Embers in the Ashes of a Dying Race
by Lord of the Saiyans
Summary: Planet Vegeta was destroyed. In one night, the Saiyan Race was cut down. All but a few survivors eliminated forever. Now, we follow the tale of those survivors. Raditz, a young death-seeking warrior, Nappa; one of the last of the elite warriors of his world; and Prince Vegeta. Heir to a dead race, who seeks only to avenge himself upon the monster, Frieza. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Blood flowed from the cut above his eye, and Raditz slowly wiped away the red liquid with the back of his hand. The grin was still on his face, a pulled-back smirk showing his gritted teeth. More a threat than any sign of good humour. There was a sharp pain in his ribs, a stabbing sensation which hinted of a broken bone. He spat blood on the smooth ceramic floor, and glared at the only other person in the domed room.

"What's the matter, Raditz" Vegeta stood with his arms crossed; a simple training body suit thrown across his muscular, but young form. He wasn't even half Radit'z height, and yet, he'd easily forced him into the corner, and now Raditz was virtually panting in exhustion. "Don't tell me that your power is running out so soon? And you've not even touched me yet. How a weakling like you can even bear to call yourself a Saiyan is truly a marvel."

"Don't underestimate me!" Raditz hurled himself forwards, swinging with a wild left hook which Vegeta calmly stepped away from. The long-haired Saiyan spun around, bringing his foot crashing down across Vegeta's body – or at least, would have if Vegeta hadn't casually rammed his forearm into the way. Raditz's kick went wide, and Vegeta's hand gripped his ankle. The young Saiyan exerted enough force that Raditz could swear he felt the bone crack, and then brought him down to the floor with a single motion.

Spitting tiling, Raditz tried to rise up, but he was too slow, and Vegeta hammered three blows into his chest. Merely three, but each of them hurt more than almost any other punch he'd ever experienced. He felt each of them hit home with savage power, felt his own flesh shift and bruise under the attacks. In panic, he tried to stagger back, but Vegeta's leg swept out, and he fell again. His back hammered into the ground, and he rolled desperately.

Energy lashed into the ground where he had been as he came up. So close, he felt it against his skin. His body protested as he forced it to rise. Vegeta's fist hammered into his head, and he went down for the second time. Darkness and pain lurked behind his eyelids, but Raditz tried to fight past them. His limbs felt so weak, and he couldn't barely move. Something hard closed around his throat, and he was lifted up. Vegeta's hand dragging him to his knees. Raditz chocked and spluttered, his hands trying to pry apart those vice-like fingers.

"This is so pathetic." Vegeta said. "I almost feel bad for you, Raditz. Look at you, a Saiyan with no power. You're not even a warm-up to me. You're not even real practice."

Raditz's hand went limp, the lack of oxygen making his vision start to purple, still, he tried to form words.

"You think you can help me?" Vegeta snorted. "You actually think you matter in the slightest? Please. You're just wasting my time. You're a sad remnant of a pathetic lineage who never rose above their low-born origins. You actually have the gall to think that I might let you join me?"

"Urgh. V-Vegeta. Please..." These were the only words that Raditz managed to get out of his move, between the gasps for air anyway, and the increasingly tight pressure in his chest. "I-I came to help-"

"And where were you when our planet was destroyed?" Vegeta asked. "Why didn't you help then? Or were you just too scared? Pathetic, I should just kill you now and save everyone the hassle of having to deal with such a weakling."

 _Maybe you should._ Raditz found himself thinking furiously, even as his body struggled to survive. _Kill me and end it! Make it fast, or make it slow, I don't care my prince, but I would have an end!_

Suddenly, the grip on his throat was released, and Raditz fell to the ground. He gasped and spat, his chest heaved as he took in deep lungs of air. He loked up at Vegeta, but the prince was already moving. Walking away towards the exit to the training room. Raditz glared down at the floor, feeling his hands tightening into fists.

"You couldn't even last five minutes." Vegeta said, without turning around. "And you want to pledge yourself to my service? If I accepted a weakling like you, it would demean both Nappa and myself. Nappa isn't as powerful as I am, but at least he's worthy of the title ''Saiyan.''"

Raditz pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the pain of broken bones being ground together. "Prince Vegeta, I'm a Saiyan too! I'm not as powerful as you, but I can help! I can become strong! Please, accept me."

"Are you really still trying to convince me?" Vegeta turned towards him again, and Raditz took a step back at the cold look in the prince's eye. "I told you, you're not even worth my time!"

Vegeta spun suddenly, and dashed towards Raditz. The long-haired Saiyan threw up a quick guard, but Vegeta shattered it with a single blow, Raditz groaned as Vegeta's fist dug into his chest, emerging bloodied from the deep wound. Pain pulsed through his body, and the world started to shake.

He went down to one knee, spitting and coughing blood. Vegeta stood before him, regarding his crimson fist.

"You're going to die, Raditz." He said. "If you stay here, you'll die. By the hands of my foes, or my own. You're not strong enough. You're not fast enough. You're not smart enough, and to top it all off, you're not even worthy to die for me. Get out of here."

"I... I can't!" Raditz lurched to his feet again, standing unsteadily, he dropped into a fighting stance, and summoned the last dregs of his power. "I won't! This is my place! This is where I should be! Accept my service, or kill me on the spot, there's nothing else I'll accept!"

"Very well."

The next moment, he knew more pain than he ever could have anticipated. It took a second for him to piece together that Vegeta had slipped under his guard and casually broken his arm. Then, as Raditz had reeled, the prince had spun with a kick and smashed three of his ribs. As Raditz fell for the final time, Vegeta's hands filled with Ki, and the area around the long-haired Saiyan was full of fire.

"Prince Vegeta." Nappa stood waiting on the outside of the training room as the sliding door opened with a hiss of compressed air. The big Saiyan held Vegeta's armour bundled under one hand. He reached out, and the prince snatched the armour, beginning to don it with the ease of familiarity.

"That boy was a waste of time." Vegeta said simply. "I can't believe you actually let him get this close to me. Why did you think I would be even slightly interested in such a fool?"

"Prince Vegeta, he's a Saiyan like us! One of our people! One of the last of our people. Maybe he's not so tough now, but in a few years..."

"We can't afford sentimentality, Nappa. That is what got us in this situation in the first place. Besides, I doubt he even has any serious potential for power. He'd only drag us down."

"He sought us out as soon as Planet Vegeta was destroyed." Nappa argued. "We need people we can trust, now more than ever!"

"Hmp." Vegeta finished sliding the last of the armour into place, feeling the familiar weight of the ceramic-based clothes. His tail curled around his waist, and he deigned to glance back into the open training room. Raditz lay in a bloody heap on the ground. "He's worthless, Nappa. His power level is far too low. Even if there were a million of us, I would not consider him a true Saiyan. Right now, with so few, he's even further from being up to the task."

"But Prince Vegeta..." Nappa faltered for a moment as Vegeta;s gaze was turned on him. "He's one of us. He's a _Saiyan._ We can't just leave him out there. Besides the two of us, he's the only survivor we know of! Together, we could be the last of our race! You can't just leave him to die! You have a-"

"Nappa, don't say one more word." Vegeta's voice cut through the bigger Saiyan's speech. "I don't have a _responsibility_ to anyone but myself, you understand? My father, King Vegeta, was a fool and by that foolishness, destroyed our race. All because of his supposed responsibilities. So I will tell you one time only. I answer to myself alone. Don't ever forget that."

"Yes, my prince." Nappa growled, his eyes cast upon the ground. "B-but this one could be useful. Even if nothing else, he'd be a good scout. Someone expendable to send ahead of us on missions, or to deal with foes not worth the effort."

"We have plenty of Frieza's soldiers for that." Vegeta commented. "But still, you seem to have quite the liking for this boy. Why do you want him to join us so?"

 _He's not a boy, he's older than you._ Were the first thoughts that sprung to Nappa's mind as he looked down at the prince. These, he carefully did not say. Nor did he speak his true reasons for wanting Raditz to join them.

"Maybe it's just that he's one of the last of us, but we can't leave him to die alone. And you know a Saiyan of his strength will be hunted down sooner or later now that our world is gone. He isn't strong enough to survive alone, and he can be a useful tool if we just give him the chance to grow into his power! He's young, and he has not yet hit his prime."

"I doubt he ever will, Nappa." Vegeta scoffed. "You saw how easily I took him apart. It isn't just power he lacks. It's skill, experience and technique. Of the four things which make up a Saiyan Warrior, he lacks all of them. His pride is shattered, he begged me to take him on. His power is pathetic, his skill is lacking at best, and his speed is less than underwhelming."

"These things can be fixed." Nappa argued. "He's young, he can get faster and stronger. As he gets older, he'll become more skilled. As for pride... Well, that'll come in time too. If he makes it that far."

"A big if, Nappa." Vegeta said. "He has no use to me at all, and I despise worthless things. Remember that. Even you have to serve a purpose."

"I know that well." Nappa said. "But I'm telling you he can serve a purpose! Give him time."

"Well then, Nappa. You seem attached to this one." Vegeta smirked, and Nappa felt a sudden dread as the prince's gaze turned upon him. "I'll give him another chance. If, that is, you can bring him up to some kind of acceptable standard by the end of the month. If you can't, of course, I'm going to have to kill him. And possibly you as well for wasting my time."

He knew without asking that it wasn't a question. As dread coiled in his guts like a snake, Nappa nodded and turned towards the training room. Vegeta didn't even bother to say another word as he began the long walk back to their quarters.

Raditsz was still laying in his puddle of blood as Nappa trumped over to him, dropping to one knee, the bald giant placed a hand gently on the other's neck, feeling for a faint pulse.

 _Well, there it is._ He thought to himself. _At least I'm not doomed before we even get to start._ It was probably a bluff. Vegeta wouldn't actually kill him. Nappa was too useful. He was, after all, one of the only two elite-class warriors left in existence. As far as tools went, Nappa was one of the finest around. Heh, most warriors probably wouldn't have liked referring to themselves as tools, but for Nappa, it was just part of the job description. There wasn't anything else anyway. Not since Frieza had destroyed their world. Killed their race in one night, and obliterated their hopes and dreams. Everyone he'd ever known and cared for were dead. His whole family, and every deed he'd ever held as good wiped from history.

Yeah. He'd be a tool if that tool was something that could help to kill Frieza. He'd embrace it, even.

Maybe that was why he wanted the kid around so much. He hoisted Raditz up, and non-too gently draped him across his shoulders. Kid was a Saiyan, he'd deal with a little pain. As he walked back into the corridor, joining the many such walkways that ran from the fifteen separate training rooms at the heart of the ship, he mused on what Vegeta had said.

'' _Why did you think I would be even slightly interested in such a fool?''_

 _Because he's a Saiyan._ Came the answer, the answer that he had given, but not the complete answer. For Nappa knew that to answer fully would certainly invoke his superior's wrath. _He's a Saiyan, and his hopes died that day as well as ours. Vengeance isn't for you alone, my prince. It belongs to every Saiyan still alive. Even those who are not as strong as you are._

The healing tanks were, by necessity, close to the training rooms of the ship. If Frieza didn't care about the health of his minions, he at least saw the sense in having more of them to throw into missions. Nappa easily carved a path through the various races that made up the crew of the ship, most of them clothed in armour not unlike Vegeta's. Not a single one of them came up to his chest; and the reputation of his species served him well to keep them from his path. No one wanted to be the one who disturbed the savage alien warrior Nappa, who had already destroyed countless species. Especially when he was carrying a bloody corpse across his shoulders.

This was the reputation of his people; of theSaiyan race. Bloodthirsty conquerors, masters of genocide, who had on their combined hands more blood than any twelve other species you cared to name. Even Frieza himself had destroyed less worlds than the Saiyans. A fact in which Nappa took a certain amount of pride. The low-level scum and vermin that made up Frieza's forces didn't even bother him as he finally arrived in the medical centre, and pushed his way through. A nurse looked up at him, started to step forwards and then thought better of it. Good for her, it meant she'd get to live for another day. He didn't need a doctor, anyway.

Off to the side of the main chamber, there stood a row of healing tanks. Thick and bulbous metal spheres with crescent windows. They were backed against the far wall, and interlocked with a series of interwoven pipes. Most of them were in service, filled with a slightly green liquid within which there floated the single occupant. One of them was empty, and it was to this that Nappa made his approach.

He had just finished sitting the boy in the tank when he heard movement behind him, and turned to see one of the doctors entering the chamber with a panicked look.

"You can't do that!" He said. "The tanks are all booked! We can put your friend into stasis until one of them is available, but-"

"This one was empty." Nappa said, gesturing to the tank in question. "Now it's not."

"That one's booked. One of our patients is coming in later today with a broken leg. It'll take several days in the tank before he is fully healed."

"Too bad. He'll have to heal the long way." Nappa said. He moved to the console in the middle of the room and started to press buttons. Most Saiyans were not technically inclined, and Nappa was no exception in this. But he had learned long ago how to work certain key machines. More by necessity than anything else.

"Look, you can't do that either, no one's allowed to work the machines but staff! I-"

Nappa lashed out in anger, backhanding the doctor without even turning away from the screen. He didn't bother to use most of his strength, but even so he felt bone shatter under the blow. The medic's body hit the far wall, and he lay there gasping in shock for a moment.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Nappa said. "And don't start screaming either. It's annoying, and I'll probably kill you just for the silence."

The doctor feebly nodded, his face pale. His eyes were scrunched up in pain, but he couldn't prevent the occasional sad whimper from escaping his lips. Nappa pressed the last button, and the door to the pod slid shut. As soon as it had done this, liquid began to pour into the interior of the thing, and the kid's body started to float. Bubbles rose from his wounds, and the look of pain on his face faded away.

Healing tanks were a godsend, Nappa had to admit. If there was one piece of technology that Frieza had done well to bring them, it was this. The kid's wounds would usually take months to heal, but with this, it'd be a week. That left roughly three weeks to train the kid. A daunting task, to be sure. Unlike Vegeta, Nappa wasn't quite ready to say that Raditz would be useless forever, but there was no doubting he wasn't strong now. Could he get strong enough to face Vegeta in three weeks?

He'd have to, otherwise Vegeta would kill him, and Nappa would probably get a pretty severe ''training'' session himself, even if he would probably live through it.

He looked through the glass window, at the young warrior who was floating within the waters. He looked so much younger now that his face was wrapped in the veil of sleep. Like a child, almost. He must not have been too much older than the prince, Nappa thought. He shook his head.

 _I'm getting soft._ He said. _In the old days, I'd have let him die as a lesson to the others._

 _Yes._ Came his own voice back at him. _But in the old days, there actually_ _were_ _others!_


	2. Chapter 2

" _For a child of mine, you really don't know how to fight very well, do you?"_

" _S-shut up! I'm stronger than you ever will be! If you think that I'm such a let-down, why don't you show me yourself?"_

" _It's just not worth my time."_

He floated. Submerged in an infinity of green liquid. The pain of his wounds was a distant, but constant feel. He ignored it, for he had felt the same many times before. It wasn't that he didn't know where he was – how could he not? How could any Saiyan not instantly recognise the soothing feel of a regeneration tank? The sticky liquid pressing up against him was almost the same kind of feeling as the touch of an old friend. A link which brought many memories, both of victories and defeats. The healing tanks had been stacked high back home, after all, a city full of Saiyans generated a lot of casualties. Training accidents alone accounted for hundreds. But then, the Saiyans had always been a rough race. Rough with their own, and worse with others. The term ''savage'' was often used. But only out of earshot if you wanted to live to use it again.

Raditz had been in the pods far more than most his age. A brash personality and a certain amount of natural talent had led to a cocky warrior; far too often, he'd fought in practice matches which were anything but. Throwing his pride and life on the line again and again. Though, never of the elite class, Raditz was powerful enough on his own to handle most foes. Even so, many times he had been wounded. Broken bones, internal bleeding, the stuff you needed to spend a night or two in the tanks to walk off.

But never then had he felt the sheer desolation that he was experiencing now. Even as the pain in his body faded slowly, succumbing to the healing properties of the genetically engineered liquid which worked rapidly to patch his wounds; the pain in his mind and soul grew only more powerful. He knew why he was here. He knew of the failure that had brought him to the very brink of death. How could he not? It was as simple and obvious as the grinding pain in his ribs. Desolation swamped him, and he wished that he could disappear forever into the murky liquid which cocooned him within its embrace. At least then, he'd bring shame to no one else.

A Saiyan? Him? He'd been a fool to ever think that he would be able to make a difference. The Prince's words stung like nothing else had, but only because they confirmed what he had always known about himself. Worthless and weak, not even worthy of the title. A Saiyan in name alone.

 _Father was always stronger. No matter how hard I tried to catch up, he was simply beyond me. Yet, he died and I did not. Is it my destiny to simply exist as a ghost? An echo of what I should be?_

It seemed depressingly likely.

How long he floated there for, he didn't know. Just that slowly, the pain of his wounds receded, and he began to feel strong again. To feel powerful. But it was an illusion at best, and he knew better now. Vegeta's words before had torn his pride in two.

'' _You? A Saiyan? Don't make me laugh. You're not even worthy to lick my boots. You're a fool to come to this ship.''_

 _Am I really a fool?_ He wondered to himself, during the long hours of isolation. Each one feeling like day in its own right. The healing fluid gently teasing his body into rapid healing. Closing his wounds, and patching the damage to his bones. _Was it too much for me to think that I could make a difference?_

He couldn't find the answer he sought, and so, after a while, he stopped trying. Yet more time passed, and eventually, he heard muffled voices, something sharp struck the corner of the glass which covered the healing pod, drawing his focus. Raditz's eyes flashed open, the stinging liquid made him want to blink, but he fought that instinct, and looked out through the distorted mirror of the glass door.

The man stood looking down at him. The same one who had greeted him on the ship, the one who had brought him to the prince. Raditz felt a surge of confusing emotion. An annoying sense of happiness to see another Saiyan after so long alone, and a painful reminder of his failure before. The man towered above him; he was all muscle. His body like that of some ancient titan to the younger Saiyan. Standing tall in spite of what they had all suffered already. His arms were massive, engorged with powerful tendons. His head was bald, and his eyes focused on the tank, seeming to bore through the glass. Encasing one side of his head there was a scouter, lights flashing across the screen. The man was clothed in typical battle armour, the standard sort used both by Saiyans and by Frieza's army. His furred tail was curled around his waist.

 _Nappa._ Raditz remembered with a grimace. That was the name of the giant who had greeted him here. So confident, so damn condescending. Raditz had known he'd been looking down on him from the very moment that he'd arrived. Was he here to mock him again?

Or else…

Was he here to end it? Had the Prince decided that no Saiyan as weak as he should be alive at all? Raditz felt a surge of fear, enough to shock his systems into full awareness again, throwing back the living stupor of his time in the tank.

That name… it was familiar to him. 'Nappa'' he'd heard it before. But where and when? It seemed so long ago, and he'd worked so hard to block out memories of the past, memories of when he still had a place to call home. It would return to him eventually, he thought. Until then, he would wait. There was no point in disturbing the past, it would only take him to places he didn't want to be.

There was a gurgling sound, and the water of the tank began to fall away, sucked by pumps into the reserves near the base of the machine. Cold air battered his naked skin, chasing away any lingering tiredness. A click, and the glass pane that was the front of the healing pod began to rise, letting him breath the oxygen of the ship again. Raditz gasped, feeling the fresh taste of the sweet air in his lungs, and staggered forwards. Outside, it was even colder, and he fell to one knee, the world spinning.

Nappa was standing in front of him with arms crossed. A scowl on his face as he gazed down at the kneeling Saiyan.

"Get up." He said curtly. "You don't have my permission to fall down yet."

"S-shut up, baldy." Raditz snapped back, it was not exactly his best comeback ever, but right now, he was too focused on the wonderful feeling of being able to breath under his own power again. The world was still spinning, but he knew that this was only an after-effect of the tank, he'd be good in a minute or two at most.

He didn't get that time. Nappa's foot lashed out, crushing the ground where Raditz had knelt. Sensing the attack, the younger Saiyan had flung himself away, tumbling awkwardly across the floor. He came to a stop, and then shoved himself up right, going straight into a lunge towards the giant. A cruel snarl tore itself free from his lips, and his hands filled with glowing power. He thrust them forwards, and Nappa was engulfed in an explosion of Ki.

It didn't do anything at all. Nappa came through it unharmed, and Raditz felt a firm grip close around his throat. He gasped, and tried to pry himself free, but it was usless, Nappa's fingers had closed around him like a ring of steel. The giant pulled him from his feet, so that the two of them were face to face.

"For future reference." The giant said. "My name is ''Nappa.'' Once, it would have been ''Lord Nappa'' to the likes of you common-born scum. But I've decided to be generous since we're the last of our kind, and allow you to call me by name. Call me ''baldy'' again, and you will die before the sentence leaves your mouth. Understood?"

Raditz snarled, struggling to breath past the fingers which now pressed into his throat. His hand went to try and unpeel them, but he found that he couldn't. Nappa was strong, his muscles tensed, Raditz was unable to force them to budge, even with all his might. He went limp with the realisation, and looked into Nappa's face. Bullet-headed, the giant was. An impression only increased by his baldness. His skull was thick, and his eyes were dangerously cold.

 _He could kill me right now and I wouldn't be able to stop him._ _Damn it, am I really that weak?_

"I said understood?" 

"Y-yes." Raditz gasped, his lungs feeling the lack of air keenly. "I understand!"

The giant released his grasp, and Raditz tumbled to the ground for a second time, gasping for air. The whole fight had lasted less than a minute, and in that time, he'd been totally crushed. He looked at the giant Saiyan now with a new respect. The power of his grip, the confidence of his words. The way he fought, like no one and nothing could stop him…

He really was of the elite class. A rank that Raditz himself could never have aspired to. There was something different about elites. Something primal and powerful. Nappa had just waded in, taking the worst that Raditz could throw at him, and forced compliance with a single move. Could Raditz have done the same if the positions were swapped? 

No, no, a thousand times no.

"Good." Nappa said, looking down at him with a snarl. "You're learning your place. Now, do you still believe you have what it takes to work with the Prince?" 

"What are you asking?" Raditz snarled in reply. "I don't have anywhere else to be! Home is gone! There nothing left of the Saiyans but this! I want revenge for our people! I want to be one of the ones to kill whoever was responsible!"

"Shows what you know. Planet Vegeta was destroyed by an asteroid shower. There was no one to blame." 

"You're lying!" Raditz rose to his feet, riding the fury of the statement. "We would have noticed asteroids coming long before they arrived! Someone did this to us! Someone like-"

The blow smashed into his side, knocking the wind from his lungs yet again, and carrying him back into the healing pod. Glass shattered, raining down around his body, and metal screamed as the impact bent it into new and interesting shapes. Raditz blinked. Pain shooting through him.

 _Did I...did I just get hit? I didn't even see him move…_

"Repeating rumours like that will get you killed." Nappa snarled. "Don't be a fool. Who else would be able to destroy us? It was nature itself that rose against us. Don't go telling people otherwise. Understand?"

"Y-yes." Raditz winced. _Damn it, and that rib just healed too…_

"Hmmp. You're much weaker than I thought you would be when you arrived." The giant went on. "Getting floored by an attack like that. When was the last time you trained with someone on my level?" 

"Never." Raditz responded. "I never fought an elite before. I was merely first class."

"That's no excuse. First class is as high as a commoner could rise. You're the elite of your kind, but you weren't even able to see my attack coming, were you? If I'd wanted you dead, it would be over there and then. The Prince Vegeta is far more powerful than I. What could you possibly bring to the table that would interest him in the slightest?" 

Raditz struggled to pull himself free of the twisted metal that the healing pod had become. His chest hurt where Nappa had hit him, and he knew that the giant was right. If he'd put just a little bit more power into that attack, Raditz would be dead. The thought was chilling; he'd come so far, he didn't want it to end now. Coming so close to it at the hand of one of the ones he'd come to find was a bitter irony, and Nappa's words rang too eerily true to those of another high class warrior Raditz had once tried to best.

'' _You're a first class warrior, but you can't even last five minutes against me. Face it, you're just not strong enough for this role. One day, you're going to bite off more than you can chew, and then you're going to die.''_

 _Bardock. Father, I...I remember how you used to look at me. I knew I was strong. Strong enough to surpass you, but you never let me win., not even once! Even when I threw everything I had at you, I wasn't strong enough! This is just like that, but I won't give up. Not even now. I swear I won't!_

"I'm not strong." Raditz admitted, the words tearing themselves from his reluctant mouth. Though, his pride was battered and torn, he was still a Saiyan. Admitting something like that hit him hard. "I know that I'm no elite, and I probably never will be. I won't ever be able to rise as an equal to the Prince, or even you… But I'm a Saiyan as well! Where else would I be but here? Sure, I'm not the strongest, and maybe that'll end with me dying, but given the choice, I'd die here, with my own kind! If you want to kill me, then just kill me now, because I'm not going anywhere!"

"Why? Why do you care about something like that?" Nappa pressed him. "The old world is gone. History doesn't mean a thing now. You're weak for a Saiyan, but you're still a Saiyan like you said. You could easily take over a world, rule a planet. Live like a king. Why do you want to come here and fight with us?"

"Because we're the last of our kind! I could vanish into space, and become some sort of emperor, but what would be the point of that? An empire of weaklings? An empire of animals? No, the only place that has meaning is here, with the last of my species. The last Saiyans. Even if what you said was true, and there's no one to take revenge on… I, I want to be here! I have a right to be here! No matter how weak I am, I'm still a Saiyan!" 

"And if you die here, at the hands of the prince or myself? Would that still be worthwhile? Would it still have meaning? Think about it carefully, because that's very likely to happen."

"When you came for me before, I thought I was going to die. But I wouldn't change a thing, do you hear me? Not a thing. I'm a Saiyan, and I'm one of the last of us. Even if I am the weakest, I can't run from what I am! The weakest of the Saiyans is still a Saiyan! I still have my pride! Doing anything but what I am already doing would shatter that forever, and make me just another animal."

"Well, what do you know? I guess you do have some modicum of pride." Nappa growled. "You might be a real Saiyan after all. You're so sure you want to stay? Fine. Prince Vegeta will accept you as a member of his guard, assuming you survive his test at the end of the month. Next time you clash, he'll be fighting to kill."

Raditz paled, a tremor trying to work its way up his legs. _He'll rip me to shreds!_ But even as he had this thought, he locked eyes with Nappa, and nodded slowly.

"I understand. Even if it means my death, I'd rather die a Saiyan."

"Good. Because until the end of the month, you're going to be my personal project, understand? Maybe you'll die, and maybe you won't. But I intend to see to it that you're strong enough to give the Prince at least a light warmup. Better than you did before, anyway. Now, follow me, there's a training ground not far from here and we don't have time to waste. I hope you liked spending time in that pod, because you'll be back again before too long."

And so it went. The next several days for Raditz became as close to hell as he had ever felt before. Though, his father, Bardock had driven him hard, that was nothing next to the perfection that Nappa demanded. When they sparred, Raditz felt that his life was at risk, and it truly was. For the giant did not understand the concept of holding back, and lashed out with titanic strikes that Raditz had to block with both arms. Driven by this fear for his own survival, the younger Saiyan learned quickly. Applying himself, and gaining speed and power. Even so, most nights, he ended up back in the healing pod, with at least one smashed rib. Each day, Nappa would be there again to collect him, the eternal; spar would begin anew.

For Raditz, who had never before had to contend with such a powerful foe, it was overwhelming. He had no time to think, no time to plan. He was forced to rely on instincts, dodging rather than blocking, and striking across his opponent's back. Nappa remained the very aspect of the perfect Saiyan warrior. Relentless and merciless, even to those he was training. Again and again, he hammered the long-haired Saiyan to the ground, and stomped him down if he couldn't move fast enough to get away.

Raditz's body ached. His bones shattered and healed by the tank each day, though there was never enough time for a few recovery before the next beating. He learned things fighting Nappa that he hadn't learned in a lifetime of planetary conquest as a Saiyan. Things like fear, terror, and the sense of his own weakness.

Still, he struggled and fought. Lashing back desperately, throwing everything into his attacks, even running off his mouth as a way to buy time. Nappa was easy to enrage, he soon learned. But the problem was that an angry Nappa was even harder to take down, and it led to even harsher beatings. Even so, he did it again and again, hoping to make him drop his guard, hoping to give him that one perfect shot.

It never came, and time after time, Raditz was beaten and thrown to the ground. Dazed and confused as the pain swamped him from all sides.

Yet, at the same time, this struggle and life and death began to become something else for him. He was a Saiyan, after all, and he was being pushed to his very limit each and every day. He took a savage sense of joy in the battle, the wounds he took, he bore with pride. Though, Nappa called him weak, he wouldn't stop trying. His heart hammered with joy at the rush of blows. His blood pumped faster in the exchange of fists. Pain surrounded him, and attacked him from all sides, yet, he was having the most fun he'd had since the end of Planet Vegeta.

Nappa sensed it, and seemed to return it in kind. The two warriors learning each others move, dancing across the battlefield exchanging blows faster than the eye could follow. So common was this practice, that soldiers began to appear to watch from the sidelines. Only a few at first, but more and more as the days went on. It was rare indeed to see a Saiyan fight these days, and many of Frieza's soldiers wanted the chance before it was lost entirely.

Neither Nappa nor Raditz cared much about that. Both of them were by now familiar with the other's attacks, and Raditz had grown noticeably stronger and faster. Able to block or dodge most of Nappa's attacks so long as the big Saiyan wasn't fighting full out. Pushed to his very limit, like any Saiyan, Raditz had started to move beyond it.

One day, during their spar, he managed to slip under a hook, and caught Nappa with a shot to the chin. The larger Saiyan stumbled in shock, and Raditz reacted with a kick to the gut, sending him into the air. He sped forwards then, snarling as he had before when he first woke up. His hands filled with power, and he thrust them forwards to fill the training room in light.

Nappa came through the energy barrage, smoke trailing from his body, his fist snapped out, and Raditz felt his skull crack. The world spun, then Nappa slammed a powerful attack into his side, and he smashed back down to the ground. He lay there, blinking for a moment, agony washing over him. Blood welled in his mouth, and he spat it on the gridded floor of the training area. Pushing himself over so that he was on his hands and knees.

He couldn't stop shaking.

He heard the crunch of debris as Nappa landed near him. His solid boots crushing the rubble created by their battle. He wanted to push himself back to his feet, to try and meet his teacher in battle again, but found that he couldn't. His arms felt weak. His skin was stinging, every inch of him in pain. Blood trickled from his open mouth, and one of his eyes was having trouble seeing.

 _I...is this my limit? I've pushed as far as I can, and can go no further? Damn it, come on! Move, fight! Why can't I fight? I'm a Saiyan, my purpose is to fight! I just have to move!_

But he couldn't. The best that he could do was to hold his place, to refuse to bow, and fall to the ground again. Rising beyond this seemed impossible, there was no strength in him. The world was shaking from side to side, and he felt like he'd been totally drained. He had nothing left for the fight.

Nappa was walking towards him now. Raditz heard the familiar sound of his boots.

"So, you've finally hit it, have you?" The older Saiyan said, with a smirk so obvious that it was damn well audible. "I was wondering when you could. That's why I was driving you so hard."

"W-what do you mean? Do you know why I feel like this? What is it? Tell me!" 

"You've reached the end of your reserves." Nappa told him candidly. "One of the big differences between an elite warrior, and any other class of Saiyan is our ability to move beyond our own limits in battle. No matter how beaten up we get, no matter how we're worn down. We still find the energy to rise up and fight again. You don't have that. I wanted you to know it. I wanted you to _feel_ it. Do you feel it now? The screaming urge to get up, and to fight on? The desperate need to hit me again? But you can't, can you? That's beyond your power. What I am showing you now is the difference between the likes of you and I. It's vaster and deeper than any ocean. You may be an elite commoner, but to us, a commoner is still just the same. You have nothing."

"Urgh...you bastard, why are you doing this? Haven't I proven myself to you in the time we've been training? I've fought as hard as I could! Show me some damn respect!"

In response, Nappa struck him hard on the back of his head, and Raditz folded, darkness rushing in on him as he hit the ground. The last thing he heard was the big Saiyan's reply.

"You get respect when you prove to me that you are worth it."

Nappa watched the younger Saiyan fall. Struggling, despite his words, to keep a smile from his lips. His heart was singing, the glorious sound of battle filled his ears. The rushing of his blood thrilled with the ebb and flow of the battle he had just enjoyed. Raditz had grown so much since they had started. At first, Nappa had wondered if he would simply die from the training. Many had, in the old days. But Raditz hadn't. He'd kept up at it, even when Nappa had driven him beyond his limits. He'd found a way to become faster, to become stronger. To roll with his attack, to keep fighting.

Once, Nappa could have ended any fight between them in a single blow. Frankly, he probably still could. But at least now, that attack would not be as simple as reaching over to hit him while he was frozen in shock.

Pride in another wasn't something that Nappa was used to feeling, but he felt it now, gazing down at the fallen form of the younger Saiyan. He'd come far, in such a short time…

He had even dared to hope that Raditz would be able to surpass his limits, and rise up again. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case, and Nappa was beginning to feel a sense of impending doom. For all that Raditz had learned, Vegeta was stronger. For all that he was fast and strong, Vegeta was better.

 _He's not growing fast enough. Vegeta is going to kill him._

 _How do I get myself into situations like this?_


	3. Chapter 3

"So, Vegeta. They tell me that you have found another of your missing people."

The inside of Frieza's quarters were spacious and well decorated. The floor was richly carpeted in crimson colours, the walls had been upholstered. There were pictures hanging by the head of his bed, great works of art from a dozen worlds. The scenes they showed were varied and many, one of them was the setting of the sun across a field of floors. Several showed pictures of the native species, drawn in dress and pose. A few were more abstract, collections of shapes, or blurred images meant to allow the looker to infer their own idea of what they might contain. There were scenes of battles, and great leaders standing bravely on the cusp of defeat. A small amount were of buildings, always great in some way. Massive, jutting things of rising pillars and twisting gargoyles. Or multi-storied palaces, gleaming with jewels and other rare metals. Some of them were of ships. Never the same species twice, always primitive looking, but with a certain similarity that you would have to think or spend time examining them to get.

Then, there were the statues. Here and there, someone had placed them about the room. These were much like the pictures; an assortment of various odds and ends from a dozen species. They had very little in common, save that they now belonged to Frieza.

It was a statement, really. Vegeta had known Frieza for long enough to recognise that right away. This room was the height of pampered luxury, but that wasn't the point. Everything, absolutely everything from the statues to the pictures to the unread books that were lining the walls were precious to someone. To a race, and to a people. Someone would have numbered them amongst their species's greatest achievements. The contents of this room would have sold well enough to buy a dozen worlds or more, counting only what was obviously displayed.

One thing Frieza did so love was to demonstrate the mastery of his control over others. The whole room was built around that, a silent threat and warning that was oh so like him.

Everything in this room, someone once would have fought for. Someone would have died for. Now, they are all mine. I wonder what that means for your world?

It was a cruel game, cold and about as merciful as a thrown dagger to the knee, but it suited Frieza right to the ground. As a result, the only ones he invited to his chambers were the ones he was sure would appreciate his little show. The occasional leader of a rebellious world, before he was broken in, of course. A disobedient follower who had just a little too much intelligence. A newly promoted lieutenant who needed a subtle reminder of his place.

And Vegeta. Prince of the Saiyans. Heir to a dead race, son to a dead father, and inheritor of a ruined legacy. A legacy which had been destroyed by the very hands that now inhabited this room. Vegeta bet Frieza just loved the irony of it. Speaking to him here of all places. Laughing at him behind that silent sneer ever on his face. Mocking him with the fact that the destroyer of his world was standing right there, talking to him. Commanding him. Him. A Saiyan Prince! The last true, Royal Saiyan.

''Yes, Lord Frieza…''

''I'll do what you say, lord Frieza''

''I'll serve you to my dying day, lord Frieza''.

How he hated that man standing before him now. Hated him more than he had ever hated anyone or anything else. It burned in his gullet, an acrid taste of bitterness in the back of his throat every time he looked upon the man who had killed his people. Each time, he had to stop his fists from curling into a ball, had to stop and calm the savage roaring of the energy pounding in his body, the screaming urge to kill in his mind.

Frieza looked so weak sometimes. A stick-thin figure bedecked in that ridiculous armour, putting on those airs of refinement, but like everything else, that was a lie. Frieza was a monster, and one powerful enough to properly lay claim to that title. If Vegeta tried to fight him, he would be killed. If he even gave any indication that he suspected Frieza was the one who had destroyed his people, rather than the cover story of some ridiculous asteroid impact, he would be killed.

If he ever stopped being amusing, or useful at all, he would surely be killed.

"Yes, my Lord Frieza." He said, displaying no trace of his internal musings. Forcing himself to kneel before the horned wretch who had invited him into his quarters. "Another Saiyan found us by means of rumour. He likely won't survive."

"Oh, badly hurt, is he?"

"He will be."

"Hmm." Frieza's cold lips curled into a soft smile. "Well, he's your subject, after all. But I would advise you to go easy on him. There's not many of you left now."

Bastard. Mocking us, you know well what you did.

"I'm aware of that, my lord. But a Saiyan without power isn't a Saiyan at all. He's pathetically weak, he wouldn't survive the rigors of your service, so it's easier simply to put him out of his misery now."

"Really, now? From what I've heard, your other follower has quite taken to the boy. Don't tell me he won't be upset when you kill him?"

"Nappa will fall into line. He's a Saiyan, a true Saiyan. Whether he likes it or not, he'll do as he's told. If not, I'll simply beat him until he will."

"Heh. Well, you know your own species best, I suppose."

"Yes, my lord Frieza. Now, is there any other reason you called me here? Being summoned to your quarters is rather unusual."

"Yes. As a matter of fact there is. By all means, Vegeta rise to your feet. This topic is an important one, I can't have you kneeling down all the time that you're here."

Vegeta did as he was told, brushing the dust off his armoured suit as he rose up to his feet. He was clothed in the typical combat armour sported by Frieza's soldiers, though, it was of the make intended for Saiyan use. His dark brown tail was wrapped firmly around his waist, and a lime green scouter clipped to one eye. The scouter was turned off, of course. Trying to read Frieza's power would simply be an invitation for the tyrant to destroy the scouter. Besides, Vegeta already more than knew his place in this equation, and it was hopelessly outclassed. When he'd first come to their world, the Saiyans had done their best to destroy Frieza, but whole armies had been obliterated before they were forced to bend the knee. One single Saiyan prince stood no chance at all. He was in the presence of a true monster, and all he could do was to try and survive.

For now, at least. Because as frustrated as he got, as furious as he became, forced to voice pointless niceties, to praise the man who destroyed his people, as much as he was forced to give, he knew that he still had a destiny. He clung to it, holding to it tighter than anything he'd ever held before. He, Vegeta, was going to become a Super Saiyan. It wouldn't be soon, or fast, but each day he was stronger. Vegeta was already an elite by the standards of his people when he had been forced to join Frieza. Now, he was so much stronger, he doubted there was a single Saiyan alive who could ever have beaten him. But it wasn't enough; if he was a giant, then Frieza was a soaring titan, casting him into shadow.

He needed more. More power. More time. More chances to grow stronger, and to finally avenge his people. One day, he would have the strength. Until then, he would do whatever it took to survive.

It was a matter of pride.

The last Saiyans couldn't die until they had taken revenge for their people. For that, he needed to be stronger than any Saiyan before. Anyone and everything else were simply tools. Some, like the new Saiyan, were tools that he wouldn't even bother to use. Poorly forged and worthless. Others, like Nappa, were finer tools, but tools nonetheless. No one mattered in the end but Vegeta himself, because no one else could see this through.

He was the only one.

Frieza, one day I'll destroy you.

"This important topic for which I have called you into my room, is one of treachery." Vegeta's eyes widened at the word, his heart began to beat fast. He struggled to control his body, even as Frieza turned away from him, and gazed out one of the bubble windows which looked out into the void of space.

Frieza was impossible to read. Had he been discovered? Was that the reason he'd been called here? If so, he should attack now, and at least not die without a fight, but his body was frozen, he knew that Frieza would effortlessly destroy him. He didn't want to die yet. Not without finishing his self-appointed mission.

"Treacher, Lord Frieza? Who would dare do such a thing? Don't they know that your power is so great as to render that utterly pointless?" He hated the sycophantic words that he was forced to voice, but anything less would surely have sealed his fate.

"Indeed, Vegeta. But I suppose some primitive species simply refuse to learn. Ah, but what is a conqueror to do? I've given them all the chances I could. Why, I conscripted them into my army, I gave them a chance to impress me and earn rewards. They even served me well for a time… but I suppose that was the problem all along. They grew arrogant, Vegeta. Their minor victories in my name began to make them think that they could challenge me. What do you think of that?"

"F-foolishness, my Lord. There's no one and nothing in this universe that can challenge you. These people must be mad!"

"Zarbon suggested to me that I wipe them all out one by one. Making the others watch, you understand. To drive in the pointlessness of the whole thing. What do you suggest, Vegeta? You know I value you highly."

"My Lord Frieza, if they really have turned against you, the best that you can offer them is death. That is the penalty for defying you, after all."

"Yes. Yes it is. And if the group of traitors was closer to you than you thought? Would you kill them then?"

"My lord?"

"If, for example, it was Nappa? And this new one? If the last Saiyans had gotten into their heads to try and kill me, you would execute them yourself?"

"Yes, my lord." The words tasted like ash in his mouth, and it took all his self control not to let the wariness he was feeling show on his body. What was Frieza planning? Did he really intend to make Vegeta kill the last of his own people? Would he really do it if it was asked?

Yes. Yes, he would. He'd watch them die himself, bath his hands in the crimson liquid of Saiyan blood. Endure their looks of betrayal and shock, and even laugh at them as the light left their eyes. It wasn't his fault. They were weak. Too weak to survive in this world. The only thing that they could do was help his cause by dying in this way. Even if they never knew that was why they were dying.

Did that make him evil? It was a fleeting thought, not the sort of thing he would usually entertain at all, but Frieza had him rattled. He considered for a moment. Nappa had been the closest person to him for years now. Ever since the destruction of their world, Nappa had been the only constant presence he had. The only reminder of their lost home, and all that they would have shared. Did that mean he was evil by so casually killing him? By being ready to cut him down at the merest mention of the word from that hated creature, Frieza?

No. He decided. Good and evil didn't mean anything at all. There was only survival and power. To gain power, he would have to sacrifice the survival of others. Nappa would understand, if Vegeta had ever bothered to explain it. He was a tool, and sometimes, a tool simply needed to be thrown away if it served a greater purpose.

Yes, he would kill Nappa. In an instant, and without regret.

The new one would die even faster.

"Good, Vegeta. You continue to be an exemplary follower. I do not regret taking you in after the disaster which befell your poor world. However, in this case, I am happy to announce that the problem is not with your people. It is with another group, the Arkosians, do you know of them?"

"Yes, my lord. Those filthy insect people that we conquered in your name about two years ago. You brought them into the ship."

"Yes. They have a naturally high power level. Comparable to that of a Saiyan, I understand. However, it seems that unlike the Saiyans, they have refused to learn their place. According to reports, they are intent on causing trouble, and have dispatched several ships to intercept us here. Our course has been betrayed by those members of their species we took on board. I understand that they want to sabotage us,m and then have their warships blow us to dust."

"They really think that will work?"

"Yes, I believe they do. Sad, sad people that they are. Still, betrayal, no matter how incompetent, must be met with the correct punishment. I want you to go to their quarters on the ship, and kill them all. No survivors, Vegeta. Let each of them know the crime of which they are guilty, and then send them to meet whatever primitive gods their kind worships."

"Yes, Lord Frieza, but if I may ask, what about their world?"

"It's going to be destroyed, of course. As soon as we deal with their little ambush, I'll change course. By this time next week, their species will be a distant memory. And just to be sure of it, I will be putting bounties on any surviving members of the species on any worlds. I do truly intend to grind them into the dust of history. So deal with them, would you, Vegeta?"

"Of course, my lord."

Vegeta turned, and reached for the control panel that operated the sliding door which opened out into the rest of the ship, but Frieza's words reached him from behind, taking him by surprise and sending a shiver down his spine.

"And, Vegeta? I hope that you and your Saiyans don't ever try the same thing. Because I promise, the fate that I have given to the Arkosians is nothing compared to what I would do to you and yours."


	4. Chapter 4

The Arkosians. Just thinking of them was enough to send a primal shudder down the spine. An insect race, they were four-armed and cloaked in armoured chitin. Taller than the average man by half again, and with razor sharp mandibles in place of teeth. Glinting compound eyes to catch even the faintest light, and each of their four arms was tipped with inch-long claws set to tear and sever. There was one word for what they were, and that word was ''predator''. Added to this, a natural power level to rival that of the average Saiyan, and it was no wonder that they had attracted Frieza's attention. The tyrant had made a bid to bring them to heel with bribes and offers of advancement, but they'd refused. Never one to give up on an idea, Frieza had conquered them, and made slaves of them instead.

Vegeta had been there on the day their world had fallen. Nappa hadn't, off on some scouting mission or something. But Vegeta had, and he still remembered it as one of the few times he'd actually been pressed. The Arkosians were like bees in a hive. As soon as their cities came under fire, they'd swarmed out in their hundreds and thousands. Vegeta had fought like a madman, one by one, the lesser, weaker soldiers had succumbed to their frenzied attacks. Until only he had remained.

He remembered the cuts of their blades across his skin, their chittering laughter. He remembered that no matter how many of them he'd sent burning to the ground, not a single one had shown fear or loss. Or even rage, come to that. They'd just kept fighting. Kept throwing themselves at him until he burned through almost all of his power. Coated in their dark ichor-like blood. The bodies of hundreds of them at his feet, Vegeta had almost begun to doubt that he would survive himself. They came on, numberless and endless.

He'd found in the strength to fight. Dragging it from the depths of his pride, forcing his battered body to stand again, even when he feared he'd shredded muscles. He'd roared, and gathered his power, called on the pride of the Saiyans. Fought with everything that he'd had.

Still, it was only barely enough. Cold and methodical, heedless of their own losses, the Arkosians had come for him again and again. He'd fought hard. Harder than he ever had in his life, and still, he'd felt himself being driven back.

It was only at the end, he'd dug. Deeper than he had before, and felt the swelling of power within his chest, like a burning fire from which he could draw strength. This, the right of the Saiyans. Vegeta had used it, wielding it, and forcing his complaining body on. He'd crushed the king of the city with his own two hands, and routed his subjects in the end. But it had been so close, and at the end, he could barely walk, let alone fly.

He'd been in the healing tanks for weeks after that. When he eventually did wake up, he quickly learned that things had gone bad on the planet Arkos. Frieza had been furious, so angry that eventually he'd ended it himself. Obliterating their four major cities in a single stroke, and threatening to end the world next if they didn't bend the knee. They did, and Frieza incorporated them into his little empire.

Since then, he'd had a group of them travelling with them on the ship. Jokingly, he called them his elites. A title he had once saved for the Saiyans. Vegeta had often wondered if their eventual fate would be the same, and now he had learned that it would. Those who threatened Frieza didn't tend to live very long afterwards. Even if the threat was so pathetic as to be impossible. Frieza, die at the hands of enemy ships? It would never happen. Sure, the ship itself could be crippled, or even destroyed. But Frieza was strong enough to destroy warships on his own. There was nothing they could do that would kill him.

Was it desperation making them last out like this? Or had they just decided to die? Vegeta felt no sympathy either way. If his own people were merely tools to be used and thrown away, what did that make those who weren't even of Saiyan blood? Simple animals. Not even worthy of consideration. He'd kill them all, as Frieza had ordered, and take joy in their deaths as well. When he'd last clashed with their kind, it had been a pitched battle. One of the few he felt he might have lost, had things gone just slightly differently. Now, he wanted to test himself. To see how far he had grown.

The doors of the elevator slid open, revealing the same sleek metal corridors that could be found all over the ship. The plate on the hall entrance notified the world that this was the Arkosian section of the ship, so you should get out while you could.

Vegeta started to build his power. Walking forwards, stalking like a predator. The Saiyan love for battle rising through his soul. His hands twitched, waiting for the warm embrace of blood and flesh, the splintering of bone, and the breaking of chitin. He tapped his scouter, switching it on again after his meeting with Frieza.

One lifeform in the room dead ahead. He frowned. Only one…? That wasn't right, there were at least twenty of them in the ship. Maybe the others were on missions? But that didn't make sense either, he doubted that Frieza would have sent him to kill them if they weren't actually here.

Wary now, he was still moving towards the door. It could be a trap, but if it was, what was the correct course of action? He could be subtle, play things out slowly. Beat them at their own game. Or else, he could spring the trap, and trust that he was simply good enough to win regardless.

Put it like that, how was it even a question?

His left hand gestured to the door, and a flash of Ki traversed the intervening space. In the space of a second, the door was blown in, a molten hole torn into the metal surface. Smoke bellowed around his entrance, and Vegeta pushed through it, leaping into the room.

His scouter clicked, and beeped a warning, he ducked low just as a taloned hand swept over his head. The Arkosian he'd detected before had struck fast, one of its arms striking for him while the others moved for where it thought he would be. It was a massive creature, nearly twice his height. Four armed, and ugly, it leered down at him.

"You've come to the wrong place, little alien." It chortled. "I'll eat you up!"

"I doubt that very much!" Vegeta back-stepped quickly, swooping and lunging as the claws cut a path past and around him. His image blurred as he moved. He was giving ground, but he hadn't taken a single blow. Just testing the thing's speed.

"You're so slow." Vegeta mocked it. "Is this really the best that you can do? I'd hoped for more than this from a survivor of Arkos."

"Bastard!"

The creature lunged at him suddenly, putting on another burst of speed. Vegeta ducked forward, rolling under a scything strike, and came up in time to launch his own barrage of punches. The Arkosian met them with a series of parries and blocks, four arms working to defeat a faster set of two.

The Arkosian broke to the side, and Vegeta twisted. He felt something sharp rack against his armoured chest, clawing away at the protection offered by his battle suit. His hand shot up, catching the second arm as it swung for his face. With a savage grin, he leapt back and _pulled._

The Arkosian's arm came off with a spray of ichor, and it howled. A sound matched only by Vegeta's laughter at the injury he had inflicted.

"Four arms down to three!" He mocked. "Your advantage is becoming lesser!"

The Arkosian hissed a curse in return, and two of its three hands filled with swirling power. It cast forwards, and a double-blast screamed into beaming, scarring he area where Vegeta had been while alarms blurred in the distance. The explosion followed in his wake as Vegeta threw himself forwards. Confident that he was faster, he only had to worry about the creature out thinking him. It switched, firing the blast instead where it thought he would be, but Vegeta had anticipated this already. His left hand lashed out, and a blast of his own Ki caught the creature's arm, blowing it to shreds in another display of blood and flying limbs.

"Now down to two." Vegeta chuckled.

Desperately, it came at him again. This time, it fought without the air of menace that it had had before, it was fighting for its life now, against a foe who wasn't even winded. With four arms, it had forced him back. But two was barely enough to challenge him. Vegeta stepped forward, under its guard, and brought a fist crashing against its exoskeleton. It shattered, the creature staggered back, rivulets of blood running from the shattered tears that projected from his point of impact.

"There. Are you all done?" Vegeta said. "I am hoping that the others are more powerful than you. After all, if that's what everyone is capable of, I will barely even be challenged."

"Oh, they are stronger, Prince of the Saiyans." The insect said, its voice chocked with the pain of its wounds, but also something more. Something deeper. Vegeta frowned, for there was none of the fear or desperation it had shown only a moment ago. This wasn't right, it was almost as if…

"I am the very least of us all." The Arkosian gurgled. "If you were to meet my fellows, you would be over-matched for sure. Sadly for you, that is not a fight that will ever take place."

"Oh really?" Vegeta said. "And who is going to stop me, you? I think I've already proven how ahead of you I am."

"Yes. I will be the one stop you." The insect said, and again, the voice was off. The fear it had shown before vanished as though it had never existed at all. "You see, we knew that Frieza would send someone to stop us once we heard of our plan."

"You knew that Frieza had discovered it?" Vegeta said. "Is that why your allies have fled? If that's the case, it was foolish not to do so yourself."

"We knew. How could we not when we leaked it ourselves? And as for how I intend to stop you… why, with a bomb of course. We had hoped Frieza would come himself, but the plan accounts for that. it's sad that your tale ends here wh-"

He was cut off when Vegeta surged forwards, ripping one fist into his body, and closing his fingers around something squishy that he guessed was important.

"Where is it?" Vegeta snarled. "Where is the bomb?"

"Well Vegeta..." The alien still showed no pain. No fear, no sign that it was about to die. "That's very simple. You're holding it."

"What?"

"Long live Arkos."

The explosion was big enough to shake the ship. It tore out the passenger decks, ripping a way all the way to the void of space itself. The giant saucer trembled, fifteen lives were lost before internal shields kicked into action, sealing away the void. By that point, the entire Arkosian sector was a blaze of fire and molten metal, with those rooms closest to the fight totally missing. Minutes later, secondary explosions began to erupt across the ship. The other Arkosians taking that as a sign that the plan had begun.

By then, of course, Vegeta had been sucked into space. Chocking and coughing on the void between the stars.

* * *

The ship rocked, lights flashing off for a moment before emergency power kicked in. Raditz stumbled to the side, his body still bruised from the last training session with Nappa. His hand shot out, catching the wall of the steel corridor, and supporting his weight until things had balanced again.

 _What the hell was that?_

Now, Raditz had not long been directly in Frieza's service, but he was a Saiyan, and a powerful one at that. Or at least, he would once have been considered powerful for the common classes. Even if the elimination of the same had left him the weakest Saiyan by default. He'd still been on plenty of missions, and fought enough pitched battles to recognise a creeping familiar sensation.

 _That was an explosion. Why would there be an explosion on the ship? It can't be engine trouble, I'm too far away from that sector, it has to be something closer. An attack?_

He grinned, a savage smirk appearing on his wild features. The thought of an attack by alien forces was enough to get his blood pumping, he knew that someone would have to be absolutely insane to attack here, but that didn't mean that no one was going to try and do it anyway. If that was the case, it would be the perfect chance to run off some steam. He raised a hand to the scouter secured around his eye, and tapped one of the buttons at the base. A soft crackling filled his ears, and he frowned.

 _The channel's out? That can't be a good sign. Looking more and more like a deliberate attack. Let's see if we can find the secondary…_

Another button press, another moment of growling static.

 _That as well?_ He was starting to feel cold. This wasn't what he had expected. Taking out both channels implied a level of information that most attackers wouldn't have. Damn, this could be pretty bloody before the end. But then, maybe he was overreacting? After all, it was still possible that there was no attack at all.

Yeah. And maybe his father would appear out of nowhere to tell him that Raditz was the son he'd always wanted. About the same chance of happening.

 _Definitely an attack, but who by?_ He shook his head suddenly, banishing such thoughts with a savage force of will, and a rising blood lust that threatened to take over. _That doesn't matter right now. My job is to find my way to the Prince. If he's in danger…_

Raditz paused then, the grin faltering as he remembered his beating at Vegeta's hands, the insults he had endured. Vegeta's words, spoken with such belief to them that even now they were impossible to shake.

'' _A fool like you wants to be called a Saiyan?''_

Even if he made it to Vegeta's side, would he be welcomed there? The cold answer was that he knew he wouldn't. Vegeta might lash out at him, or even order him to go. Was Raditz really willing to risk his life for someone like that?

 _What am I thinking? He's the Prince! Whether he trusts me or not, my duty is to go to him! But if I do… what will be the result?_

Raditz didn't know Vegeta as well as Nappa did, but even so, he figured there were even odds that the Prince would simply kill him for the crime of believing that Vegeta was in enough danger to need his help. He flexed one of his hands uncertainly. It had seemed so much simpler when he thought it out in his own head. Coming here and joining the Prince. It had seemed so certain, so fixed. As though it was all that could possibly be. Destiny was a word he might have entertained.

He'd forgotten how his own species worked., Too long alone. Vegeta didn't want him. Vegeta didn't _need_ him. What was he but a fool? And not even a strong enough one to tolerate. Merely a weakness. That was how the Prince saw it.

 _What would father do in this situation? Well, besides come up with some bullshit means to beat the invaders all by himself. Huh. Didn't realise how bitter I was about that. Maybe I have some father issues? Serves the bastard right, I suppose._

He shook his head.

 _Focus, Raditz. You're trying to avoid thinking about your options. Vegeta won't welcome you. You know that. You also know your duty is to go to him regardless, it's what father would do. But do I care enough to do the same? If I do, I may die…  
_

 _But if I don't, am I really a Saiyan? I came here knowing that I would probably die. That I was weak by the standards of the Prince and his elites. Hell, I welcomed that thought! I wanted to die! I wanted it to end! So long cast adrift and alone, I wanted any sort of closure! To die at the hands of the Saiyan Prince would be the perfect end, or so I thought. Why am I changing my mind now?_

The answer was obvious, flashing into his head even as he thought the question. Nappa. Even though the big Saiyan had beaten him ruthlessly, he'd worked hard to help him improve as well. Raditz was no stranger to painful means of gaining strength, but Nappa had pushed it to the extreme. Harder even than his father had done, before he gave up in disgust.

Nappa had spent time on him when even Raditz was convinced that he was worthless, that he was here simply to die. Nappa had taught him, made him stronger. Vegeta was his prince, but Nappa… Nappa was the first fellow Saiyan he felt like he had any connection with at all since the loss of homeworld.

 _I'm such a fool. I came here seeking to die, and in the end, I can't bring myself to willingly go to my death. If I go to Vegeta alone, he'll kill me for sure. But I won't do nothing. I'll find Nappa. He'll know what to do after that._

Course confirmed, the long-haired Saiyan pressed another button on his scouter, a map of the ship overlaid the green glass, showing him his current location. He zoomed out, noting that the scouter still had a connection to the main computer bank, which meant it was still being updated in real-time. He tried the communication channels again, but there was still nothing there. Since the main computer was still on, he was forced to assume that it was being blocked.

Right. First thing he would have to do would be to find a way to locate Nappa. Since the channel was being jammed, he doubted he'd be able to locate anyone using the scouter either, but according to the map, there was a secondary command bridge near his current location. Heading there would give him direct access, allowing him to track both Vegeta _and_ Nappa.

 _Hey._ He thought. _Maybe I'm not too bad at all this thinking type stuff._

The route to the secondary command deck led down through the next corridor, and then down an elevator shaft to the lower levels. Raditz began the journey, wondering where everyone was. But this question was soon to be answered, for as he stepped beyond the sealing door of the next corridor opening, his scouter picked up a signal. He pressed the receive button.

" _Repeat! All forces to form up on me! It's the Arkosians, they've raided the Saibamen storage facility and let the little bastards loose everywhere! And they've brought some tougher ones of their own! They're currently advancing through sector seven, all forces to form up on me."_

"Sector Seven, eh?" Raditz checked his map, and chuckled. "Seems like I'm well out of it then. Good luck, hope you draw enough fire that I can get through easily. Though, it would be a shame to not get to fight at all, so maybe not too much fire."

In the next corridor, he found where the bomb had went off. The sealed door refused to open for him, citing exposure to the void. So Raditz tore it from the wall, and hurled it aside. There was a moment of pressure, as the air behind him was sucked forwards, but the Saiyan braced himself and expanded his aura. It was an old trick, used by Saiyans when fighting at high atmosphere. Grab enough air in your aura and hold it tight. If you were could, it could keep you going for hours, if you didn't mind being marginally more explosive. Raditz snatched up as much as he could in the glowing field of light, and then held it close to his body. Breathing deeply as the rest dissipated, and he was able to move safely again.

This part of the ship had been an important crossroad between two major sectors, and was usually full of people. That was why the Arkosians had targeted it, he guessed. A high yield bomb, strong enough to blow through the armour plating and expose the corridor to the void. He could see the molten metal, now cold and hard. How the force had twisted the roof and walls, ripping into the bodies of the ones who had been unfortunate enough not to be incinerated outright. At least a dozen had been caught, and now lay in various forms of dismemberment. Frost coated their bodies, formed when the heat had plummeted form exposure to space. Raditz felt his own body temp begin to fall as soon as he stepped into the twisted remnants of a room, but burned a little of his Ki to keep him warm. Saiyans could fight in high atmosphere, or even the void of space for limited periods of time. He was trained for this.

The long-haired Saiyan did not feel much for Frieza's minions, moving from one body to the next with an almost bored air. They weren't Saiyans. They didn't matter. But there was one or two things that managed to catch his eye. Most of the bodies were badly burned, having been caught in the first blast. But at least a few weren't. Those ones were instead wearing almost untouched armour, their faces covered by rebreathers. Raditz guessed that these were the ones that had arrived after the explosion. The containment team.

Each one of them was squarely dead, killed by a single shot, high energy. Looked like some sort of combat drone. Raditz paused over one of the bodies, what had the message said? The Arkosians were behind this… Raditz hadn't been there for their conquering, but he knew them by reputation. Fierce and predatory, with a natural inclination towards ambush. This definitely had the smell of something they'd do. Something they'd set up for a long time.

The Saibamen storage facility was locked up tight, you couldn't just walk in and get some people-plants. It wasn't that easy, you needed authorisation, codes, you needed paperwork. Yet, the Arkosians had managed to release enough that a defensive force was needed to hold them back. That told Raditz that it had taken quite some planning. If that was the case, why not other things as well? The wounds on those corpses looked like focused laser shots. The kind of thing deployed by high-grade combat drones. Those things didn't have to be big, they could be stealthily brought in one at a time…

At least one had passed this way before, and could still be hanging around. Raditz readied himself for battle, and pushed on. From that point, every small sound took on the semblance of the enemy to him, every moment he felt he might fall under attack. For a Saiyan like him, the sensation was exhilarating. His blood running, his heart pumping. Feeling more alive than he ever did outside of combat. At the same time, he knew that one of those could kill him. The combat drones were meant to ward off invaders, just like the Saiyans. Sure, Vegeta or Nappa could drop any number of them with ease.

He wasn't Vegeta or Nappa. If the drone got the first shot, he'd go down. Just like the other soldiers he'd left slowly drowning in ice. His life was balanced on the edge of a blade here, one wrong move and it could all be over.

He grinned, and kept moving.

At the end of the corridor, the elevator was blown out, of course. The bomb had melted and exploded the doors, twisting them into place, and locking the elevator in place, even if it were in a fit state to move under its own power, which it wasn't.

A flash of Ki, and the floor was gone, the explosion travelling down the shaft in an explosion of light and colour. Raditz eyed the void where the floor had been, noting the long dark abyss that seemed to wait him below. The shaft ran the entire length of the ship, and was one of several that were used to transverse it quickly. Though, as a Saiyan, he wasn't really one to be scared of heights, he took a moment to time his descent before stepping out over the edge.

Space whipped past him as gravity caught him in its grip. Cold air whipped across his face from the lower levels, and his stomach flipped from the motion of his travel. Still, he went. Letting himself descend by simple means of stepping into gravity's embrace.

A door went past, and he caught himself with a surge of power. Breaking the fall, and floating up to the sealed entrance. He laid a hand on the metal, and then yanked it away just as quickly with a cry of shock. It was hot! A fire? Or a fight…

Well, in either case, he knew just what to do. Raditz cupped his hands for a moment, and began to draw on his reserves again, felt the energy flowing across his body to gather between his palms. It was a crude but powerful blast, and more than enough for his purposes. When he was ready, he thrust his hands forwards, and the Ki took off. It flew feely for a moment, before encountering the metal door, which was promptly blown in two. The energy travelled after this into the corridor, twisting and howling as it went, ripping through the fire which had taken a foothold on the other side. Said fire was quickly extinguished, wiped away by his power. Raditz held the beam for another moment, until he felt his reserves begin to weaken, then shut it off.

Stepping into the corridor now, he felt the rising heat. Something had set the whole place ablaze, and his beam had only served to delay the destruction. Already, he could see embers catching, and new flames rising to replace the old. Smoke and ashes swirled around him, and he put a hand over his mouth to prevent himself breathing in something he'd rather not.

There were bodies here too. Twisted and charred by the flame. More soldiers. Looked like there had been a real fight here.

Again. Raditz felt something was off about this picture. He didn't know quite what it was, but it didn't feel right. The Arkosians had a rep for being good at this sort of thing, but what could they hope to achieve here? They'd never be able to kill Frieza in thousand years, so weren't they throwing their lives away for nothing? The Arkosians were supposed to be ruthless but practical. If they were doing something, there was a reason, they didn't just throw their lives away for nothing, and added to this, there were the Saibamen, and the combat drones… both things that required a lot of prior planning. They had to have spent time on this, so what was their goal? What could they possibly want that would be worth the risk that they were undertaking here? If they failed, their planet was doomed. Frieza would never show mercy to them after this. They had to know it. Which meant that this action was judged worth that risk, but what could be worth running that hideous danger?

It would have been nice to say that he had an idea of where they were coming from, or maybe of what they hoped to get out of it, but honestly he didn't have a clue, and it didn't matter to much either, he figured. What was done was done, and he'd already set out on his course.

There was a burst of motion to his right, almost hidden by one of the flickering tongues of flame. Acting on instinct, he threw himself to the side, and a searing beam of light swept across the space in which he'd stood. Raditz caught himself, rolling back to his feet in time to launch himself at the unexpected attacker.

Well, maybe not so unexpected.

It was a combat drone; a tiny disc-shaped droid that hovered in the air on a field of projected anti-gravity. Nearly all of its body mass was given over to the lethal looking laser which protruded from its primary body, and the rest went to the complicated set of sensors embedded behind the single glass eye.

Raditz noted with a flash of arrogance that the drone wasn't calibrated to catch a Saiyan, it was far too slow! He weaved around another shot, hearing it smash into the wall behind him, and thrust forwards. His hand shot out, aiming to dash the single glass eye, but the drone kicked away, moving as fast as its projector could carry it, the weapon glittered and spat again. Cutting a path over Raditz shoulder. He winced, feeling the intense heat under his armour, but refused to show it any sign of weakness. His hands filled with energy, and he went on the attack, launching a dozen blasts to help pin down the tiny machine, it darted. So fast for such a tiny thing, mocking his previous assumption as it dancing in the space between his attacks. Its metal body flashed with the reflected light of his blasts, mocking his inability to bring it down so easily.

It moved forwards, skimming quickly between two blasts, and fired a volley of lasers which he deflected with a backhand; even through the shield of his aura, he felt the pain of the impact, but before it could recover, he pushed himself forwards once more.

Drones like this were powerful. Stronger than they looked for sure, though, most of their power tended to come from numbers. Alone, one of them wouldn't be enough to hold him off for long. As though to prove his point, this time, the thing was too slow, and he felt his fingers close around its metal frame. The shimmering shield it projected no match for the strength of a Saiyan. He closed his fist, and felt the body crack and strain under the pressure, electricity surged through his hand, but he held on until he was absolutely sure that it was just a ball of useless scrap before he let it drop to the ground.

Flames were starting to climb higher again, and he frowned. _That annoying insect took longer than I thought it would._ _Strange that it decided to stand and fight though. They usually run if they don't have a numbers advantage._

Raditz stalked to the end of the corridor, where the door refused to open for him having detected the fire. Annoyed, he ripped into it with his fist, punching a hole clean through the metal, and peeling it back until he could step through.

The new corridor was fresh – though, fresh was a subjective term, seeing as how there were yet more bodies littering the floor. And the killers were waiting for him even as he stepped through the ruined husk of a sealed entrance. A hovering combat drone swivelled to face him. At first, he felt confidence. Another wouldn't be that hard.

Then a second came into view, skimming through the empty doors to the quarters which lined the walls.

A third one appeared, having wedged itself into an ambush position hovering just under the roof of the hall.

A fourth was poised between two dead bodies, deadly and silent.

Number five was waiting for him by the door, already moving to attack as soon as he stepped through.

And lucky six was coming from behind, he twisted as he heard the tell-tale sounds of the hovering system they used to move. It had just descended down the elevator shaft that he had used to gain entrance himself.

Six drones, coming at him all together. His last thought before the chaos began was a simple one.

 _So that's why it didn't run. It was waiting for friends._


	5. Chapter 5

Explosions danced around him as he sped down the corridor. His dark hair twisting in the grasp of the wind. Raditz turned. The walls sped past him, so quickly that he could no longer discern where the doors began or ended. He was navigating by the map in his scouter, and the drones were keeping pace just behind him. Lasers lashed out, forcing him to make a sharp turn, twisting down a corridor he hadn't meant to take.

 _Damn it, that adds another five minutes to the journey._

His hands filled with Ki, and he launched it back, creating an explosion which the drones easily ignored. He cursed, and forced his body to put on yet more speed. His Saiyan instincts screamed at him to turn around and fight them, told him that he was being a coward, that his father would already have dealt with them by now.

He didn't. Tried to ignore it. Despite his brashness, Raditz was no fool, and he knew that if he tried to engage six drones, at least one of them would get a lucky hit. As he had said before, Vegeta or Nappa could tank that level of firepower, but not him. One hit, he'd go down, and before he could get up, the others would swarm him. Not a fun death.

A shot singed his armour, reminding him of how not-fun that death would actually be. He scowled, and turned around, returning fire with both hands, sending a dozen Ki bolts slashing through the empty corridor. Ne of the drones was caught, and tumbled, the shield flared as it absorbed the hit. He tried to focus it down, but a second drone jumped in the way, letting the first recover. A barrage of lasers seared him, forcing avoidance, and like that, he was back to running.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it, I can't keep avoiding these things forever! They're chasing me further and further from my goal. I have to get rid of them somehow._

 _Maybe if I cut speed before they realise it…_

He imagined it. If he dropped speed, they'd overtake him. Then, he could launch an attack from behind. At least one would die before they realised, another would die when he closed in on them. A third might go down before the others managed to hit him…

Three out of six wasn't good enough.

He still had plenty of power, maybe a really big blast? But in a confined area like the ship, he could easily hurt himself too. If that was the case, he'd be wide open to a counter attack, and one hit was all they needed. No, that wasn't the answer.

 _Starting to rethink whether I'm good at this planning thing or not!_

A bolt stabbed him in the lower leg, and he winced, throwing himself forwards before the worst of the damage could be inflicted. He rolled in mid-air, and pushed off against the wall. He felt a flash of pain from his thigh, and gritted his teeth as he flew past the drones. For a moment, they were confused by his sudden change in direction, and he got a little bit of space on them.

 _Think! Think damn you, I need to come up with some sort of plan here!_ Never before had Raditz felt his own lack of power rubbed so much in his face. Sure, Nappa had crushed him. But Nappa was an elite, and would have done that to anyone he cared to name save Vegeta. This time, he didn't have that excuse, these were just drones. If he were only a bit stronger…

A shot lanced past him, striking the wall by his head as he twisted to speed down another corridor. A sign flashed past, too quickly to read, but thanks to the scouter's map, he knew what it would have said. He was getting closer to the secondary bridge, but he wouldn't be able to make use of it unless he got these guys off his tail first.

Could he run them into a patrol of Frieza's forces? Bail as they tore each other apart? Fun idea, but he might just end up running into more of the drones. Last thing he wanted was to do that. He had to come up with something else. Was there anyway that he could improve his odds of victory? If he cut his speed, killed a few, and ran again?

But no, if he did that, the others would be much closer, they'd be able to run him down, and dodging their attacks would be much harder. Damn.

He turned, sending another volley of Ki back down the corridor, mostly in the hopes of fouling up their sensors for a moment, and to give himself some breathing room.

What did he have to use? What could he do to turn the situation to his advantage? He could almost hear Bardock's voice, even now. Telling him to think, not just to run with his instincts, that there was a time and a place for that. He was in a ship, there had to be something he could use.

 _Maybe the engine room? That's not far from here. It should be guarded. Maybe I can at least secure some help there._

It was the best idea he'd had yet, and so, with nothing else to do, he turned another corridor, dashing through the air past a stunned looking soldier who was shortly thereafter shot in passing by one of the drones. The six of them followed in close formation, breaking only when he paused to lob an explosive distraction their way. More shots slashed across his body, most were near miss, but he felt the pain, and knew it would only take a single direct hit. He pushed himself harder, breaking into a speed he didn't know he could reach, throwing himself as quickly as he could. Urging his body onwards.

Suddenly, the engine room loomed up ahead. A large opening, which once had been barricaded, but corpses were strewn across the floor, and the blockage had been broken. The door now lay open, it had been melted, as thought someone wanted in. With no time for second thoughts, Raditz swooped through the door. Inside, it was a clear departure from the cramped interior of the corridors. Words like ''gigantic'' and ''cavernous'' might have been appropriate. Set into the floor, the main drive system of the ship purred to itself, making a low, machine sound. Pipes and tubes ran across it, connecting to coolant chambers each the size of a whole room in the ship. The massive machines were in turn connected to their own power sources, which were located in and around the walls. More wires ran between them. It was a very untidy system, but then, no one often came here if they didn't have to.

More importantly, the room was was. The single tower of the engine rose almost to the ceiling. Hooked with dozens of wires and tubes.

Raditz almost laughed. It was _perfect._ He dashed forwards just as his pursuers came through the door, a laser pinged off the engine, and he twisted behind the nest of wires. Then, he dropped down low, and tried to find an angle on them. Having lost sight of him, the drones advanced carefully. He knew it was only a matter of time before they found him again.

How much of an explosion would happen if he hit the engine? Was it overkill for just six drones? Probably… might be fun to do anyway, though.

There was a sound from nearby, freezing him in his place. One of the drones swept over his shoulder. It hadn't seen him yet. He turned slowly, and then launched himself at it with a Saiyan howl. It twisted to bring its weapon to bear, probably screaming at the others to help.

Too slow! His hand closed around it, and it perished like the first one he'd killed. The other five darted towards him, but he swung the ball of broken metal that had once been their comrade, and knocked two of them off-course. He made for the break in the formation that created, barely managing to evade the hail of lasers. Once clear of them, he twisted, and changed direction suddenly. The machines fired along his projected path. Missing him entirely as he looped back at full speed, and caught one of their number with a shoulder tackle. He smashed it again the ground _hard_ and then danced to the left as the survivors rained fire down on him.

 _Two down, four to go._

He smirked. Outside of the corridors, this fight was his. Now, he had more space to move and to dodge, the drones weren't nearly as dangerous if he wasn't confined to only a few possible paths.

The four survivors backed off, gaining altitude as their weapons answered his challenge. Lasers splashed down around him, and Raditz moved. Dodging numbly between the shots, raw energy seared across his body, so close to a hit, and yet so far.

His hand lashed out, directing a bolt of Ki towards one of the middle drones. It was knocked back, shield flaring, weak. He took to the air, and one of its comrades tried to interpose itself between them. It fired, but Raditz absorbed the hit with his forearm, a protective shield of energy guarding the precious limb. His shield lasted for only one shot, but that was all he needed. As soon as he was closer, he flipped in mid, his foot struck out, and hooked the drone, propelling it through the air, and skimming it against a nearby wall. He was still spinning, and as he came up again, he volleyed a blast of Ki towards the first drone he'd attacked – the one still recovering.

it's shields collapsed, and it died. Metal rained upon the ground, and across the two survivors still in formation. They fired, and he ducked back, turning his flight into a controlled fall, his legs spread out to cushion his landing, but he took a second hit to the thigh. A sudden searing pain overtook him, and his perfect landing turned into a crash. His head came down hard, and the ship seemed to start to spin. Desperation rising, he pushed himself away as a round slammed home where his head had been. Raditz scrambled, his path traced by fire. The two in the air were driving him back.

Driving him towards the third.

Even as he realised it, he felt the burning impact wash across his back. Followed shortly by a wave of pain. He cried out, and another blast punched into his chest, knocking him over. He felt the heat of the attack, and the sudden warm flow of blood.

Wounded. He was wounded! Panic rose in him, and he tried to resist it. He told himself that he was a Saiyan Warrior, that he had been hurt worse than this before.

The drones moved in. Two at the front, one behind. Still taking their pot-shots, forcing him to move, even though each movement now brought a wave of pain. He couldn't afford to get slow. Raditz couldn't see the wound on his back, but the one on his front was bleeding. Not cauterized like the ones he'd seen on the lesser soldiers. Damn things wanted to bleed him out.

A shot thudded home close to his ear, convincing him that he had to move now if he wanted to be intact next time he met the others. Raditz summoned his power, and threw himself forwards, rolling under the next barrage, and then sweeping into the sky. His hands filled with power, throwing a two-handed blast at the ones in the air with him. They avoided it, each one nimbly giving ground, but that was fine. He'd been careful with his shot.

It slammed into the third one just as it tried to rejoin its comrades. Shields flared and then gave out, knocking the metal body to the ground. Dead or disabled? Didn't matter, it wasn't a threat now. The other two went back on the attack, driving him backwards, dodging around the cover of the engine.

He paused then, gasping as shots rang out against the metal. His thigh was in pain, his back was sore, and his chest had been punctured pretty cleanly. He was bleeding. Not too badly yet, but he was a Saiyan. Any other race would be down already. He had to end this soon if he didn't want to be overwhelmed.

With a savage howl, he tore from cover. Instantly, the two were on him. He slammed a blast home against one of them, knocking it away, and forcing it to defend with its shield. The second fired, and he twisted around the bolt, and put on a burst of speed. The drone had seen how others of its kind had died, and so, it reversed, his fingers couldn't reach it.

But that didn't mean anything for the Ki blast he hammered it with at ultra close range. The explosion engulfed the drone, breaking the shield, and melting the whole front of the thing. It dropped for good, leaving only one intact. He was above it, and it spun to take aim. Spitting a laser which seared through his long hair. Raditz scowled, volleying it with Ki until its shield gave out, and it died as well.

He hung in mid-air for a moment. Feeling the pain of his injuries. A dark joy rushing through his body. Battle-giddiness forcing him to try not to laugh. The pain of his wounds was only a counterpoint to his survival, making it all the sweeter. Power flowed through him, the power of the Saiyans. His race and his heritage.

"Six drones!" He said. "That's not bad at all! Maybe Vegeta and Nappa could do better, but I'd like to see anyone back home beat that record. Even father would be hard pressed in these conditions."

His joy, though sweet, was short lasting. The situation was still the same. He still had to find Nappa, and then the Prince. There would be a medkit somewhere in the engine room, in case of emergencies. He'd use it to patch himself up a bit, and then make it to the bridge. Easy mission.

Or so he thought, until a dark shape blurred towards him. His scouter screamed a warning, but it was his instincts which saved his life. Even as he'd first seen the motion from the corner of his eye, he pushed away, but even at full speed, it almost wasn't enough. Four black claws scythed past his face, cutting loose strands of his hair as he desperately pushed away.

An Arkosian. Of course he should have expected one of them to be here. After all, who else would have killed the guards?

He didn't have time to check his scouter, the insect launched a series of cuts with its four arms, forcing him into a deadly dance of evasion. Raditz ducked back, and then back again. Parrying where he was able. The creature's strength was insane! It was like blocking metal bars. He was forced to give way, giving ground until he was backed into the corner. Then, the creature slashed for his neck, intending to lay it open to the bone. Raditz ducked, and lashed out with his feet, kicking it in the chest. He felt his feet impact against hard chitin, but it did little good. The next slash was horizontal, and he dodged to the side. Then, diagonal, and he parried for lack of anything else to do.

Then, three slashes at the same time, reminding him that he was facing a foe with four arms. He dodged one, blocked another. Felt a searing agony as the third dug into his back. He screamed, a full-throated cry of pain. The creature withdrew with a spray of blood, and Raditz felt his limp body hit the ground. His back pounded with agony. The hit by the drone and now this wound melding into a single throbbing torture.

He took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the taste of blood in his throat. The scouter finally had a chance to read the Arkosian's power level.

 _Well fuck. No wonder it's so much stronger than me. That power level… this one is the leader…_

The creature landed before his body. Flexing its arms, seeming content with the wound it had inflicted. Raditz looked up. The Arkosians were roughly humanoid, if you ignored their haunched over gait, and four arms. Its mandibles clicked in amusement. He just needed to buy a little time! Time to get his breath back. Talking with scum like this would normally be beneath him, but in this situation, he'd probably forgive himself this time.

"Wait." He croaked. "Don't kill me yet..."

"Oh?" The leader crooned. "Is the Saiyan going to beg for his life?"

Even pretending, there were some things he would never do. "Not a chance. But I want to know before you kill me… why have you betrayed Frieza?"

"Why would you care about something like that?" The Arkosian asked. "After all, your own species was destroyed by him."

"Planet Vegeta was destroyed by an asteroid impact. Nothing more."

The creature laughed. "How sad for you. Either you really believe that, or you will die having voiced the lie that you know to be untrue. In either case, it does little to ease your suffering."

"Then tell me. Why have you done this! You must know that you can't win! Frieza will destroy your world! Your whole people! Why would you turn on him like this?"

"Frieza will destroy _nothing._ " The Arkosian said. "Nothing for a very long time, anyway. You Saiyans… you know, we once looked up to you. We once thought you were to be respected. Then, you let Frieza enslave you, and my people learned differently. But your failure did teach us to prepare. We knew that he would do the same to us in the end."

"So this is something you planned?" Raditz wanted to laugh, a bitter feeling rising through his body as he used the wall to haul himself to his feet. He was gathering power now. Gathering strength. Hoping that he would be able to use it to make his escape. "You had all those years to prepare, and you only managed to plan this? You're all going to die, you know. Even if you kill me, and everyone else on the ship. Frieza will hunt you down one by one, but he won't have to bother. Zarbon and Dedoria will do it for him. Did you think about that? Your rebellion is doomed to failure!"

"Is that so?" The leader said. "It's true that Zarbon and Dedoria are beyond our ability to kill. But that's what separates us from you Saiyans. You saw foes that you could not best, and assumed the situation was hopeless. Whereas we saw such a situation, and saw a faint glimmering chance. We don't need to _kill_ Frieza. We simply need to make him...disappear."

"How would you do that?" Raditz laughed. "You're insane. Your species is doomed, and it's all because of your own actions!"

"How indeed?" The leader said. "But I know better than to reveal that to you. Die now, Saiyan. Die knowing that in your failure, you will at least have released a worthy species from the chains of Frieza's slavery."

Raditz looked up at the insect towering over him. He grinned though blood-stained teeth.

And released all he power he'd stored at once.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope that you're all enjoying the story so far. I am writing this note to bring to light an issue that has troubled me a little bit. Namely, the lack of reviews. Now, I am not the type of guy who requires tons and tons of attention and praise. I find such people childish to say the least. However, I have found the relative lack of focus that this story seemed to have garnered off-putting. It takes a significant time to write one of these chapters, and I have kept a pretty good update schedule, and the fact that people don't seem particularly interested is making me wonder if it wouldn't be better to end this story, and try to focus my efforts on something else. I don't ask for much, but it would be nice to have something back again, rather than the resounding silence I have been getting for the last two chapters has been a bit off-putting. Though, shout out to darkfalkon who did actually review the last one. Even if it's a simple ''good job'' it shows me people are interested in this sort of content. Otherwise, I wonder if I shouldn't try something else.

As always, more in-depth reviews and criticism are appreciated even more. But even saying that you enjoy the work is more than enough encouragment. I simply don't want to waste time writing a story that no one is following.


	6. Chapter 6

The move was one of desperation; there was no real name for it. It wasn't a specific technique so much as a survival mechanism. His wounded body creaked under the explosive release of power as Raditz detonated a large chunk of his energy reserves, dumping them into the air around him. The result was an explosion of not inconsiderable size. Now, some people might worry about such an explosion in such close proximity to an engine. Those people are not Saiyans. The air twisted with his power, and more importantly, the light of the release seared for a single instant. The Arkosian leader gave a howl of rage and pain, caught in the very border of the explosion. He staggered, taking a step back. It wasn't much, because in a moment he would recover, and he would be _mad,_ but for now, he wasn't paying attention.

Raditz kicked off, blasting into the air with all the power he had left in him, his wounded form complained, but he ignored it. Air-dashing across the room, and through the door into the hall again. Past the broken barricade, through the twisting corridors. His scouter's map guided him, and after a moment, he realised that he wasn't being chased. Only then did he slow, coming to a stop in a corridor he didn't recognise.

Pain tore through his body as Raditz settled to the floor. Leaning against a wall to support himself, he felt coldness and weakness threaten to overtake him, fighting it with every inch of the determination he would use to battle a true enemy. His gasped, his breath coming in short bursts. Trying to focus through the pain of his wounds. The one on his back hurt the most; a low grade agony which rapidly got stronger the more he moved. The place where the claws of the Arkosian had torn into his flesh. The wounds he'd taken from the drones pained him as well, and he knew he was bleeding.

 _Not my best escape ever._ He thought to himself, shaking his head from side to side in the hopes that it would help clear the cotton which suddenly seemed to be filling it. _How much blood have I lost? Actually, on second thought, I probably don't want to know the answer to that._

Gingerly, he tested his leg. The one which had taken the hit from the drones. Painful, and awkward, but at least it seemed able to support his weight if he didn't try anything fancy. Limping, he made his way forwards. Towards one of the elevators, if he was lucky, it could take him further towards his goal. The thought of the Arkosian irked him, made him feel like he was running away. For a Saiyan, that was a painful thought. But he knew that he would have died, and he wasn't too proud to leg it if he wasn't about to win. That was definitely more the realm of the elites like Vegeta.

Or maybe his father had beaten some lessons into him after all…

'' _If you learn anything from me, learn this. Arrogance will get you killed. No son of mine will die because he was too stupid to know when to run. Pride is important, but don't let that blind you to the fact that if you pick your foes without a care, you will die. Know when to bow out."_

Hah. That was ironic, wasn't it? Considering how his good for nothing father had gotten himself and his whole team killed on some nameless world only days before Frieza attacked Planet Vegeta. Raditz wondered if that advice had rung through his head in his final moments. He dearly hoped it had. It would have been some small payment for the pain that the older warrior had caused him.

Limping, and dripping, Raditz finally found his way to the elevator, and hammered the button to call it down. There was a chime, announcing its descent, and he waited. Somewhere nearby, someone was firing. He heard the crisp sound of the kind of laser weapon Frieza issued to his men when they were too weak to fire blasts of their own. The thought of Frieza made him frown, and he began to wonder. Just where was Frieza in all of this? Surely, he had to know something was up. Was he just sitting this out? Or else… had the Arkosians drawn him off? Multiple attacks, in separate sectors? It fit with what he had heard so far. But if that was the case, what was their goal? The leader had to know that he couldn't kill Frieza.

But what had he said? That he could make him disappear for a while? Raditz had a bad feeling he was starting to guess what the alien had meant. It didn't bode well for the ship. He had to find the others, and quickly.

Miracle of miracles, the door to the elevator slide open, and there wasn't a hovering drone, or a hundred Saibamen waiting to ambush him. He stepped inside gratefully, and hammered the button for the right floor. The door closed, and the elevator jerked into motion. It was a simple ride up to the next floor, where the secondary bridge was located, but by then, Raditz was starting to feel the icy chill of blood loss. He frowned, and tried to stay active, tried to fight back the fog that was now encroaching on his mind, but it was becoming harder and harder. He had nothing to patch the wounds with, and he was getting weaker.

He refused to fall. Damn well refused to die if he wasn't even fighting an enemy. He squared his shoulders, stood his ground, and _willed_ his body not to be so weak.

The elevator arrived with a mechanical chiming noise, the doors slid open, and Raditz staggered out. Right into the sights of a dozen guns.

Someone had thrown a blockade up near the elevator, just beyond where the door to the bridge could be found. They'd hauled crates, and set up behind them. A dozen or so soldiers from various races, kitted out in Frieza's standard armour. Some were pointing to him with guns, and some had the power to blast him with their hands. All of them had scouters. He realised he was standing in something. Bodies lay about the corridor. Some of them were Saibamen, some of them were Frieza soldiers. Here and there, the crumpled form of more combat drones.

"Who the hell are you?" The leading soldier demanded. "We could have shot you!"

"Who do you think I am?" Raditz snarled, in no mood for playing around. "I'm a bloody, beaten Saiyan and I'm not in the mood for standing here talking. Let me past, I need to get into the bridge."

The soldier levelled his gun again.

"No one's allowed in there. Lockdown is in effect. All soldiers to proceed to where they are needed. Blockades are being raised until we can get a force together and run down the traitors behind the attacks."

"Attacks? More than one?"

"A lot more." The man said. "At least five recorded attacks, and the number is climbing. Bombings, hit and runs, and sabotage. Because of that, the important sections are sealed up and safe. If the main bridge takes a hit, this secondary one will be needed to replace. We can't let anyone who might damage it inside the room."

"Do I look like I'm going to damage it?"

"You're a Saiyan, aren't you?"

Raditz scowled, forcing himself to breath deeply. Forcing himself to control his rising anger. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. You don't even have twenty men, you couldn't stop me. Stand aside."

"Maybe normally. But you look pretty beaten up. Do you still think you could take us all? Plenty of us here would like a chance to kill one of you. You Saiyans aren't too loved."

"You don't say..." Raditz muttered. "I need to get past. I'm asking one more time, if you don't let me, I'll force my way through. Maybe you think I'm weak, but I can still kill a lot of you before I go down. Then, when the next wave hit, the rest of you would die. You would fail your mission. Is killing one of my kind really worth that?"

"You need to ask? Some of us here lost our planets to you monsters. Only Lord Frieza's orders are keeping us from firing now. Give us a reason to open fire. _Please._ "

"Hmmp." Raditz scowled at the man, he was smaller, from a light-weight species that he vaguely recalled were known for their ruthlessness. Would he let him go if he pushed it? Maybe, but if he opened fire, Raditz wasn't too sure he could take them all in his current condition. Why was it never simple? Frustration and rage boiled up inside him, forcing him to control himself with conscious effort.

Suddenly, the doors to the elevator behind him started to slide closed. He turned, hearing the noise of the descending cables. Someone was coming up.

"Motion!" The leader snarled. "Everyone to position! Saiyan, I suggest you get behind the barricades if you don't want to die!"

Raditz did as he was instructed, hurrying behind the box-cover as he did a quick mental inventory of his current resources. _Wounded, losing blood, and on only half power. What a wonderful day to be me._

Perhaps he could use the elevator as a distraction to get to the door? It didn't seem to be locked, but he'd have to wait until it was open before he made his attempt. Until that happened, everyone would be too focused.

The elevator slid back into position, the doors started to open, pressurized air swirled around them.

"Saibamen!" The leader shouted. "Open fire!"

The soldiers did as he ordered, unleashing a blistering barrage of weapon fire that tore into the elevator, ripping through metal and cable, but not before the creatures moved. It was Saibamen all right. Diminutive figures, goblin-like creatures with green skin and pulsing heads. Artificial soldiers bred for battle. Their power depended on the soil in which they were grown. Maybe that was why these ones were so weak. They hadn't had any soil to grow in at all. Two were cut down by the sustained fire of the soldiers, and another three were crippled, soon to be finished. Raditz took his chance, breaking into a run during the confusion of the fight, he hammered his fist on the door opening.

The leader turned on him.

"Hey!" He shouted. "You can't-!"

Too late, the door was open and he was through. He slammed the button to close it, and ordered it locked from this side. That would buy a little time. Especially if the Saibamen kept coming. It would be even better if the soldiers took a few losses, get their focus back on the fight.

Inside, the room was largely barren. As a secondary command station, it wasn't meant to do anything much save in emergencies. There was a row of consoles, and a chair stationed by them. A series of screens, and that was about it. Not so impressive. There was a figure on the chair, a furry alien of a deep blue cover, wearing overalls that marked it as a tech. It turned to look at him as he approached, and then quelled, recognising a Saiyan.

"W-what do you want?" It asked. "Are you here to help guard the hall?"

"Not quite." Raditz said, stepping forwards, trying his best to project power and danger despite his injuries. "I'm here to access the secondary bridge. There's some things I need to check."

"I don't know if you're allowed to do that..."

"I don't know if you can stop me."

The alien considered.

"Do you know how to use the computer?"

"No." Raditz grinned, showing his teeth in an animal-like gesture. "But you do. Cooperate and I won't tear off your arm and beat you with the wet end until you do as I say."

The creature sunk even further into its chair, all signs of defiance fading rapidly. The threat alone was ridiculous, but this was a Saiyan making it, and everyone know the Saiyans didn't make empty threats.

"W-what do you want to know?"

"Good." Raditz limped closer, so he could also see the screens. "You can access the scouter channels from here, yes?"

"Of course. Anything the main computer can do, this one is capable of as well."

"Good. Isolate those belonging to Nappa and Prince Vegeta, and transmit those locations to my scouter."

"Yes." The alien worked for a moment, Raditz watched as its long, tapering fingers danced across the keyboard.

"Nappa is down three levels, currently engaged in a battle near the armoury. The Prince Vegeta is...no, that can't be right..."

"What is it?" Raditz pressed, leaning closer. "What does it say?"

"Prince Vegeta is outside the ship."

"What do you mean outside the ship?"

"He's outside the vessel! Floating in space! I'm...uhh, he seems to be alive, according to his scouter, but he's not responding."

"He's maintaining an energy shield to hold air." Raditz guessed. "Is he well?"

"Unresponsive is all I have. Maybe he's dazed? How could he end up out there?"

"You'd be surprised where we Saiyans can go." Raditz chuckled. "Now I have what I wanted. I take it that scouter communication is being jammed?"

"That's right, but if you're here, I can have the computer make you a direct connection. Vegeta may not answer, but we can probably get through to Nappa."

"Good. That's good. We'll do that in a moment. I want patched through to Nappa as soon as possible, and I'll drop a message to Prince Vegeta as well. Hopefully, he'll listen. Before that, however. I want to know a few things. Everything is going to hell here. Where is Frieza or Zarbon? Hell, I'd take Dedoria."

"I don't know." The alien admitted, turning back to its screen. "Zarbon is currently engaged in battle with two or three Arkosians in the north section of the ship. Dedoria was ambushed recently, and his scouter destroyed. I can't track him without. Lord Frieza… I just plain don't know. His scouter isn't hooked to the system."

"Maybe he'll deal with that bastard in the engine room." Raditz said. "That would be nice."

"Engine room? According to the latest report, the engine room is secure."

"Hah. Check the time on that report. Everyone there is dead."

"That can't be right..." The alien pulled up a report. "Look, it's dated only to three minutes ago. Everything is secure. No sign of enemy forces."

"That's a lie. I was there before that. Everyone was dead. There was an Arkosian there. Their leader… Could be sending false reports."

"Possible, but why there and not the half a dozen other places that have been hit?"

"I don't know." Raditz snapped, but the words of the Arkosian leader sounded again in his mind, haunting him, and driving him slowly towards a realisation he very much didn't want to have. "Hold up. You have a map on this thing? Pull it up, and show me where the Arkosians have attacked."

The alien did as it was asked, creating a map of the ship. Several areas were shaded in red, showing where the Arkosians had caused trouble. Raditz frowned, feeling a deep sense of unease.

"Look. That section, and over there… both places they'll draw a lot of attention. And down here too, taking the Saibamen containment area to give themselves soldiers. Plus, roaming drones here and here… but no one is there, even though it's the heart of the territory that they're attacking. And false reports from the engine room telling you that everyone is fine..."

"What does it mean?"

"It means they don't want us to know that they're in the engine room. No, it means that they want us to look everywhere _but_ the engine room. He as good as told me what he was planning to do! How did I not see it before?!"

"I don't understand, what do you mean?"

"The whole thing is a set up! How powerful does an engine have to be to move a ship like this faster than light? Now how much damage would that thing do if it went critical!"

"That's impossible! There are safeguards! Even in the event of sabotage, it would take time to override them..."

"Yeah. I know. Everyone else is buying it. Zarbon and Dedoria are out on wild goose chases. Frieza is gone, and the rest of their forces are tying us up everywhere else. They're going to blow the ship. They're going to blow the ship just so Frieza has no way back. It would take years for him to fly back to civilization. That's what he leader meant."

The alien was quiet. For a moment, the two were united in mutual horror. "It won't kill him. Lord Frieza is tougher than that."

"Doesn't need to kill him. It could easily take a decade for him to make his own way back. Does he even breath in space? They've planned this out. We need to stop them. Get me through to Nappa and Prince Vegeta _now._ "


	7. Chapter 7

The guns swung to point at him again when he left the bridge, the leading soldier snarling in anger.

"Give me a good reason not to kill you." He said quietly. "Or even better, give me one to pull the trigger."

The thought seemed to be mirrored in the crowd, several nodded approval, and Raditz could feel the hostility sweeping the group. For once, he didn't feel his usual Saiyan aggression. The realisation of the Arkosians' plan was still dawning on him, and so, he responded without his usual venom.

"If you want to shoot me, then go ahead and do it. I'm not in a state to resist. If you want to live, however, I suggest you let me pass. I've got much more important things to do right now."

The leading soldier blinked, and wondered if he was going deaf. A Saiyan, admitting to any sort of weakness? Surely, his ears were just playing tricks? Maybe one of the Saibamen had got in a lucky hit?

"Did you just…?"

"Admit that you might be able to kill me? Yes, I did. Don't spread it around, I'll probably want to hit myself for it later if there is one. Look, the situation has gone from bad to worse. The Arkosians are trying to sabotage the engine, if they succeed, it'll take out the whole ship. Frieza, Dedoria, Zarbon and Prince Vegeta probably could tank that blast. I don't know about you or me, or the rest of the losers you've brought to the party."

The soldier blanched, and for a moment, raditz thought that he might protest as the tech had. That he'd call it impossible, and he'd have toi waste even more time explaining. Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he nodded slowly.

"You can confirm this?"

"Talk to the tech. He'll vouch for what I am saying."

"We need to report this."

"Good luck. The Arkosians are tying up everyone important, and Frieza is out of touch. The only thing we have right now is our own power."

"I see..." The soldier said slowly. "What do you want us to do?"

Raditz blinked.

"What, you're looking at me for orders? Me? A Saiyan?"

"Some of us hate you, but everyone knows that there is no more dangerous foe than a Saiyan. If the situation is as bad as you say it is, you may be one of the few people strong enough to help put a stop to it. What do you want us to do?"

"All right then." Raditz growled. "Hold position here and guard the bridge as you have been. The computer has got a direct link to my scouter now, and I can communicate with certain people. If it gets destroyed, my link is severed. Don't let that happen."

"Understood. What about you? You're not in the best of shapes."

"I'm a Saiyan." Raditz smirked. "The only two states I have is ''pissed'' and ''about to kill you''. That Arkosian in the engine room caught me by surprise before, but it won't happen again. I have some tricks of my own. I'm going there to clean him out."

Without another word, he stalked past the group, and back towards the waiting doors of the elevator. It had taken heavy damage from the Saibamen, and the return fire of the soldiers. He hoped that it still had some means of operation. Even more, he hoped that his plan was going to work out, because if it didn't, he wasn't in a good position. Despite the bluster he'd thrown at the soldiers, Raditz was hurt and badly. Each step sent a lancing blade of pain through his injured leg. The wound on his back was still bleeding, though it seemed to be easing off, and his other wounds pained him as well. He knew he wasn't fighting at his best, and even if he had been, he wouldn't be able to touch the Arkosian leader. He was in the elite tier, by Saiyan standards. A foe for Nappa, or the Prince. Not for him. Raditz was still just a grunt. He didn't have that type of power. Even if he used a Full Moon Orb… and wouldn't that just be an insane choice inside a starship? But even if he did that, he didn't know if he could beat him.

Even so, he set the elevator back towards the engine room, and mused as it creaked and whined, waiting for the cable to snap, waiting for it to catch fire. Waiting for one of a hundred things that could possibly go wrong. It wasn't that he wanted to go back, quite the opposite. But he knew that he had little choice in the matter. He'd made contact with Nappa, but he was still three floors away, fighting an Arkosian. It would take him time to get there. Time they might not have.

The only thing left to do was for Raditz to buy that time. He felt a sense of looming doom as the elevator creaked and whirred. Like it was lowering him into a pit, to be sacrificed to some alien monster. What a foolish thought, but it wouldn't leave him. He knew he was about to fight a stronger enemy, and he knew he was already injured.

Death. He'd confronted it before, several times. First, when he'd become a Saiyan Warrior. He'd been taught that he could die in any one of the hundreds of battles that he would be expected to fight. There wasn't such a thing as an old Saiyan. Eventually, almost every made a slip up and went down. Or at least, that was how it was with the common rank and files. Elites were different. Elites were _special._ They had the kind of power that they could make a mistake, and just bullrush through anyway.

Raditz couldn't do that, and his father had made damn sure that he knew it. Regular training that could probably be likened more to beatings. Bardock wasn't the type to accept weakness, whether it was in himself or his son. The two had clashed bitterly, even though Raditz was technically of a higher rank in the common class, he knew damn well that Bardock would shred him every time they fought. It wasn't fair. In terms of raw strength, Raditz had been better! Well, better before Bardock's latest power boost, anyway. At several points, Raditz had been stronger.

But he'd never won. Not once.

'' _You just don't get it, do you Raditz? It's true that power is a force of separation, but it is not total. Tactics can overcome a power gap that is not too vast. So can experience, and strength. Even though you had more power than me this time, I had everything else. You charged in like a reckless fool, and I treated you as such. You never stood a chance.''_

Even now, years later, Raditz still reflexively clenched his fist at the thought of the speech he'd been given. Still felt the lingering anger directed towards his father. His dead father. His dead people, his dead world.

Why did he even want to save a ship like this? Why did he even care? Was it for his own life? No, because he'd come here expecting to die. Even now, he wasn't motivated by that. It was because of the others. Prince Vegeta and Nappa. Mostly Nappa, if he was honest with himself. What they represented. So long as they were around, the Saiyan race still existed in a sense. The destruction of the ship would be a second genocide. There would be no Saiyans at all left, if he allowed it to go through.

He couldn't just stand aside and let it happen. He hadn't been able to do anything the first time, he'd been helpless as a baby. Only hearing about it later. He remembered how numb he'd felt for days and weeks after the event. Waiting for it to turn out to be untrue. Hoping and praying that it would be fake. It hadn't bee, and he'd felt anguish like he never had before. To be one of the last of his kind.

The Saiyans had died once, they wouldn't do so again. Not if he could help it. Even if it meant he had to fight a suicide battle against a monster far more powerful than he was.

The elevator reached the floor, the doors slid open, and Raditz stepped out. Part of him was saying that he didn't need to do this. That the engine probably wouldn't go off until Nappa got here anyway, but part of him was saying that he didn't know that for sure. That he couldn't take chances.

Maybe that he just wanted to die.

He stepped towards the door to the engine room. Past the bodies. Past the burning barricade. His own blood marked the trail by which he had escaped. He hadn't thought that he would come back so soon.

 _Pull yourself together, Raditz. You're a Saiyan Warrior! Have some pride, it's the only thing that you have left!_

He forced himself to stand straighter, striding towards the door, ignoring the lancing pain in his foot. Ignoring how heavy his body felt. Ignoring even the sense of weakness that seemed to radiate from his wounds. The door slid open. He paused only to touch a button on his scouter, setting a timer and a location.

Inside, the engine room was much the same as he had left it. There was the massive, towering slab of metal and wires and flashing lights and tubes that he didn't understand in the least. There was an oppressive atmosphere, and nearby, he could see the ruins of the drones he had killed. There was no sign of the Arkosian, but then, there had been no sign of him the first time either.

Scouter active and scanning, Raditz stepped into the room. Into the murky half-darkness. The green tint of the scouter's screen flashed with readings. Power level at the back, behind the nest of wires, where he'd taken cover from the drones. Ironic, perhaps? He stepped towards it, careful as he could possibly be.

It paid off. Even as he moved to investigate, there was a flash of movement, and Raditz hurled himself back. Again, the scouter screamed a warning, and again, it would have been too late if he hadn't been forewarned. The Arkosian dropped from the ceiling, one arm extended to impale. Raditz wove away from it, but the other three tried to trap him. He ducked, and parried, then rolled away from the last, coming back to his feet only when he was sure he was out of range.

The Arkosian picked himself up, and brushed off the talon that had struck the ground.

"Back again?" He said. "I didn't think I would get a chance to kill you myself, Saiyan. I thought that would fall to my brothers."

"I'm not going to allow you to destroy the ship." Raditz snapped. "I know that's what you're planning to do. You're going to override the safeties, and strand Frieza here. And the rest of us are what, collateral?"

"That's odd. I hadn't pegged you as a hypocrite." The Arkosian said. "The Saiyans destroyed many worlds, what of the people that dwelt on them? Would you call them collateral? I rather think you would."

"Well of course." Raditz snorted. "Non-Saiyans don't matter. If my kind weren't here, I wouldn't care less what you did to this ship. However, since we are, I'm going to have to stop you."

"In that case, you might say we have the same opinion. Non-Arkosians aren't people. You're just an annoying pest in the way of my main target, which is Frieza, of course. I would have thought you would be happy to die to inconvenience him, considering what he did to you."

"You would have thought wrong."

"Please, tell me that you're not going to try and fight me. We both know how that ends."

 _Of course we do. We both know that you kill me._ Raditz thought furiously. _Probably pretty damn quickly. But when you're fighting me, you're not working on whatever it is that causes the engines to kill us all. Let's see how much time I can buy._

Outwardly, he faked a smirk, letting a look of confidence settle on his face. A look of what his father would call reckless brashness more than anything else, really. His heart sped up, the usual Saiyan battle-lust rising in his chest. Even the pain of his wounds seemed to fade away.

"Last time we fought, you caught me by surprise. Let's see if you can do it again!"

They began. The fight was slow at first, moving at Raditz's pace. He threw blow after blow to test the waters, trading strikes and parries. The Arkosian was happy to indulge him, which wasn't surprising considering that Raditz sensed the same primal love of battle in it that he felt as a Saiyan. It seemed that the creature was content to play defensively for a while, trading blows at what Raditz knew was far below its true speed.

Still, the fight was vicious, and Raditz found himself pushed as far as he could go almost at once. It was the fact that the enemy had four limbs, forcing him to dodge and block and parry as quickly as he could. His hands blurred, his arms ached with each impact.

The Arkosian gave no ground. Its arms moved, hammering him with blows from every angle as the battle started to speed up. Raditz swerved an uppercut, but a second blow slashed across his chest, shattering his armour and drawing a line of red. Driven by fury, he launched forwards, driving two blows into the creature's own chitin, he felt it crack, but then a follow up attack drove into his gut, not talons this time, but it hurt nonetheless. The impact lifted him from the ground, and he caught himself, and spun in time to lash out at the creature's face. The Arkosian snarled and struck wildly. Raditz took his chance to hop away, his hands filled with Ki and he tossed a dozen small blasts towards the creature.

The alien was fast, breaking into a run ahead of his attack, avoiding his strikes as he had done with the drones before. It was sleek and lethal, and coming right for him.

Raditz did what any Saiyan would do, and broke into a run to meet it. Thrusting forwards with his feet, he put all his weight behind a direct strike to the creature's chin. It angled, and the attack swept aside, missing by inches. Raditz ducked quickly, avoiding the counter attack, but then two more came from the sides, forcing him to parry them. By now, he knew his foe's tactics, and was ready for the final attack, kicking away as it sliced at empty air.

The Arkosian pressed him now, moving faster and faster. Raditz felt his heart pounding as he blocked and parried, dancing away from those blows he couldn't field. Even so, he could feel his body starting to tire. Sweat soaked his forehead, and he was starting to slow.

A diagonal cut across the chest sparked a surge of pain. He lashed out, kicking the creature's leg, and it stumbled. Ki forming in his hand, he thrust downwards towards his fallen foe, and unleashed the strongest blast he could fire.

The explosion rose around him and he pumped power into it. The Arkosian struggled to rise, but Raditz was drunk on pain and fury, the energy washed across its body, bringing it down again. The explosion expanded, he put more and more strength into it, laughing as he threw everything into the attack.

"Do you like this?" He snarled. "This is how a Saiyan fights! Do you really think that you can compete against power like this? Don't you dare compare your species to we Saiyans! We are far superior!"

One of the creature's arms closed suddenly around his leg, the energy washed across it, but it wasn't harmed! Too weak, he was too weak. Raditz felt a horrible moment of realization, and then it rose from the smoke and flames. Driving him from his feet, holding him like a child. Raditz tried to struggle, but it brought them around, and used its handhold to smash him into the ground. He screamed in pain; impact driving air from his lungs. For a moment, there was darkness, and he felt like he might pass out.

When he could focus again, the Arkosian was standing above him. It wasn't hurt. Damn. It had been playing with him all along.

"You're right." It clicked. "You are far superior to we Arkosians. In the area of failure, at least. What have you Saiyans accomplished? You have no colonies. Your world is dead."

"W-we were a race of warriors!" Raditz tried to rise, but it kicked him back to the ground, and he decided to stay there for a moment. At least until the world stopped spinning.

"Warriors are useless with no purpose. We of Arkos admired you, but pitied you as well. What did you have to bind you but the thrill of the hunt? What did you follow but your own desire to kill? You washed whole worlds in blood, and for what? Money and power?"

"And what do you have?" Raditz spat. "You have only one world...only Arkos… and you failed just as much as we! You're slaves to Frieza, just like us!"

"We have everything that you do not." The insect told him. "We are Arkos. We live for the world, and we die for it as well. Do you know, that I was destined to be a King? Not as you know the term. For Arkosians, a King is the head of a hive. What you would call a city. I would have commanded millions of warriors. I would have washed the cities of my enemies in blood. I would have had my name emblazonment across the stars! But I gave it up. All of it. Do you know why?"

"You're going to tell me anyway, but let me guess…. Your mommy asked you to?"

"Hmmp."

The Arkosian smashed a foot into his rib cage, and Raditz screamed. Pain ripped through his body. When he could see again, and when he had stopped screaming, the alien went on.

"Because it was required. You Saiyans were always alone. Isolated. None of you ever worked together truly. We Arkosians saw this, and we learned. We admired your success, and warded against your failings. When Frieza came to us, we thought to battle him. But it soon proved that even we were not strong enough. So we endured and planned. When we saw the fate of your world, we knew that we would be next. So we came up with this."

"You're just buying time… Eventually he'll find his way back to the civilized galaxy."

"Yes. But buying time is more than enough if you can keep it up forever. When he comes back, we will have figured out something else. Some other means of delay. Eventually, we will be strong enough to kill him."

"Why do you care?" Raditz spat blood, and tried to rise again. He was on his knees before the insect backhanded him to the deck. He groaned, his head striking the molten metal where the Ki had scorched the floor.

"Because Arkos must be free." The creature said. "Because we refuse to be enslaved. We, who are the strongest. The proudest, the most defiant. Frieza should have destroyed us. In chaining us instead, he sealed his doom. We will never stop. Do you think this is the only plan we have in operation? There are more. Even if we fail here. There are colonies, and more spreading through the stars every day. If the planet dies, so be it. Arkos will live."

"If your planet dies, your planet will live? Great logic there!"

Raditz took another blow, which sent him sprawling again, gazing upwards at the face of his attacker. His limbs were trembling, and a terrible sense of weakness was overcoming him. He'd hit his limit, and he could feel the strength draining from his body.

"Arkos is not the world. Fool. Arkos is unbreakable. Arkos is the will, the end, and the future. Arkos is all that matters. Arkos is eternal."

"So be it then. If that's the case, why haven't you killed me just yet, hmm?"

"I want to give you one more chance. As I said, my people respect yours. The destruction of your world is what convinced us that we had to move now. Even if you die in the execution of this plan, I want to give you a chance at revenge. Stand down, and let me complete my mission. You will die, but Frieza will be stranded. When he returns, we will kill him. The Saiyans will have their revenge."

Raditz laughed, though, the sound brought a stab of pain due to what he suspected was a broken rib trying to impale one of his internal organs. "For a species that claims to respect us… you really don't know very much about Saiyans, do you?"

"Please. Elaborate."

"Hah. If the revenge is taken by someone else, it doesn't mean anything to us! You're insulting my species by implying that we need the help of weaklings like you! Prince Vegeta will one day be more than powerful enough to kill Frieza! Until that day, I'll wait."

"Interesting. Faith coming from a low ranked warrior like you. I thought he intended to kill you?"

"Maybe he does, but that doesn't matter! I am still a Saiyan! Despite his intentions, I choose to believe in the strength of my own kind. I won't let you destroy this ship, and steal our chance for revenge!"

The insect made a sound that was almost like a sigh.

"Very well. I'll respect your choice."

This time, Raditz was kicked harder than before. Hard enough that he felt his bones crack, hard enough that blood streamed from his wounds, pushed by the impact of the force of the blow. Hard enough even that the floor below him – punished by the barrage of energy – finally gave way.

Raditz was falling. Falling surrounded by a rain of debris. He didn't have the strength to catch himself. He didn't have the power to try and fly. He hit the ground, and an agony erupted across his body, shuddering despite itself. Bloody and beaten, and staring at a superior foe.

The Arkosian descended slowly. An orb of flickering power was clutched in each one of its four arms. It looked like some alien angel descending from on-high. Probably that was what it wanted to look like as well. Raditz groaned, and the Arkosian gestured to him with all of its arms. The power grew. A wordless gesture, a meaning that was universal. _Killing blow. Time to end the fight._

His scouter clicked.

"W-wait." Raditz said as quickly as he could. "Before you kill me… would you like to know why I came back here?"

"I assumed it was in a desperate attempt to stop me." The Arkosian said. "After all, what else could it be?"

"Well actually, you might say that I was doing that in a different. Rather, I was buying time. Waiting for reinforcements. Guess who just arrived?"

Sensing danger, the Arkosian spun, directing four blasts of Ki back towards the hole in the roof, but the massive figure contemptuously tossed backhanded them away, driving down the hole with a leading kick that sent the Arkosian spinning. The alien snarled, and leapt forwards, its claws struck for the figures chest.

But the new figure was faster than Raditz had been. He moved forwards, ducked under the claws, and rammed a blow into the creature's chin. The Arkosian's head snapped back, and the figure kicked it again, driving it through a wall and into a sealed room.

There was a moment of fragile silence. Raditz gazed up at the bald figure, his heart hammering. At the same time, the Saiyan gazed down at him.

"You look like hell." He muttered.

"Thanks for noticing...bastard is tough, I almost didn't make it. Be careful."

The giant nodded slowly. "I'll take it from here. " He moved forwards, striding towards the hole into which the Arkosian had been blown. Before he entered though, he paused and gazed back.

"Raditz...this isn't the sort of thing I say easily or often, so don't expect to hear it again, seeing as how you're such an absolute weakling. But just this once… you did well."

Raditz smirked.

"Rip him to shreds."

"Already on it."

The bald Saiyan stepped into the hole, moving towards where the Arkosian had already picked itself up.

"You do well fighting those weaker than you." He said with a savage grin. "Let's see how you do facing an elite. My name is Nappa. General Nappa to the likes of you. Long servant of the royal family of Vegeta."

"I've heard of you..." The insect said. "Few Saiyans had a better record when it came to clearing worlds… General Nappa, I had always hoped to meet you."

"Good. Because I don't intend to leave this room until you're just a stain on the floor."

"Don't assume I'm weak just because you got the drop on me! I didn't expect to face a foe so fast and strong, but I'm not nearly done yet!"

"Just what I wanted to hear!" Nappa broke into a run, hunched over, spreading his arms to lock around the foe in a bear-hug. "Try to last long enough to make this entertaining!"


	8. Chapter 8

Nappa dove towards the foe with a feral howl, his massive body writhing in energy, it flowed around him, surrounding him like the light of a nova. In a single movement, he tore towards the Arkosian, and disappeared from sight. Raditz lay where he had fallen, the sound of the battle served to ignite his blood, calling to his Saiyan soul.

But he was too badly hurt; he could hardly move, and there was something else as well. Raditz knew that he should have felt happy. After all, he'd survived in a battle against a foe far beyond his ability to defeat, and bought enough time for his betters to arrive to help him out. But that was the problem, wasn't it? It was rediculious to complain that he wasn't able to do it himself, but he couldn't help it. he'd been so easily beaten, it almost hurt. Actually, scratch that. It did hurt. Quite a bit. Especially his ribs. But that wasn't what he meant. A Saiyan's pride was far more important to them than their body. Though, Raditz had taken some heavy hits, his pride had seen him through. Kept him fighting. Even through the pain; but the way that Nappa had instantly gained control of the battle left a sour taste in his mouth.

 _Why can't I do that? Why can't I be the one to arrive and turn the tides? Why am I always stuck being the one who buys the time? Who takes the hits.. even before joining Prince Vegeta, it was the same way. I'm just not strong enough to be the one who decides thing. No matter how much I want to be._

It wasn't fair. That was a childish thing to say, and he knew it, but there it was. Raditz knew that no matter what anyone else might say, his status wasn't to do with his low-born origin. After all, his father Bardock was definitely in that same class to which he aspired. When Bardock showed up in a fight, everyone knew it. Even Frieza was forced to take notice eventually. Hah. Maybe that was why he'd destroyed the homeworld. Fear of a low class warrior…

Unlikely, but it was nice to dream. Still, it brought him back to the crux of his problem. If Bardock had been in that fight, Raditz was sure he would have won. If Nappa had been in the fight, it would have been over already. If Vegeta had been there, there wouldn't have been a fight at all. Yet it was he, Raditz who had been. He who had been beaten into the ground, delaying things only by taking worse and worse hits, and also because his foe had stopped to monologue. How pathetic of him. He couldn't even win his own battle.

The sound of the fight was still reaching him from where he lay, and with a small (Okay, maybe not so small) effort, Radditz hoisted himself to his feet. Shaking hands found purchase on the smooth wall of the corridor, and inch by painful inch, he started towards the room. It wasn't that he thought Nappa might need his help. Hell, Nappa would probably backhand him if the giant thought Raditz might even consider that concept. Really, it wasn't much to do with his conscious at all. It was simply that he wanted to see the fight. He'd done so much, and suffered for it, he wanted to be in on the death.

The sealed room into which Nappa had hurled the alien was an unused crew compartment. It was totally barren, with not even the typical cheap-looking bed, or direct connection to the ship for orders and updates. There were no lights, but that was fine, since Nappa and the Arkosian were duelling so fast that the presence or absence of lights would have meant little. Raditz frowned, and tried to focus through the pain and blood loss.

Nappa was fighting aggressively, using his massive body, and muscles to tear into the foe's guard, and force the Arkosian to defend or to lose his head. Already, the insect's armoured chitin showed numerous cracks and breaks which evidenced Nappa's success. As he watched, Nappa landed another attack, dropping under a swung, and ramming his fit into the creature's gut. His size was easily belayed by his speed. He ought to have been a lumbering giant, but he wasn't. He was fast and deadly, raining blows down against the enemy, forcing him to counter, to parry and to block. The Arkosian's four arms were a blur of motion, but Raditz realised not a single one of them was trying to attack.

Suddenly, the Arkosian went on the offensive, it slipped aside from one of Nappa's blows, and darted forwards. One of its claws slashed towards the bigger Saiyan's neck, met by Nappa's hand closing around the arm. With a grunt, Nappa tugged the warrior to the side, bringing it off-balance in an attempt to send the insect crashing to the ground; but the alien i was ready, and used the momentum to swing around, angling one of its other claws to dig into Nappa's chest. Quick as a blink, Nappa released his hold on the first fist to parry the second, but three more slashes angled for him. Raditz watched, almost unable to keep up as the pace of the fight got faster and faster. The two of them were hurricanes of motion now, darting across the room, clashing together before splitting apart. A blow he almost couldn't see, and a trickle of red blood flowed from Nappa's split lip. The Saiyan rubbed it with a fist, and grinned.

There was no words. There was no time for words; the pace of the battle was too frantic for them to pause now, it was a fight to the death, and Raditz was finally watching Nappa fight at full strength without holding back. The bitter truth of the scene compounded his earlier feeling of helplessness, if he stepped into the middle of that, he'd die without a doubt. All he could do was to watch.

The Saiyan and the Arkosian moved together, the insect let loose a long, shrill cry, and pushed itself forwards. One of its claws scythed for Nappa's gut. The big Saiyan dodged back, so the attack caused only a light wound, rather than the disembowelling blow it otherwise would have been. Then, his hands snapped together, a spark of energy lighting up the room.

It was too close for the Arkoisan to dodge, but it tried anyway, thrusting to the side in an effort to change its flight path, but Nappa turned, and easily kept it in range. After a second to charge, Nappa's energy beam lashed out. The Arkosian took the hit to the side and in mid-air, it had no way of blocking, or reducing the blow. Searing energy washed over its form, and its cry of pain sounded; the first time Raditz had heard it in true agony. The writhing body was propelled into the far wall, where the energy exploded, opening the way to yet another corridor.

For Nappa, this was the moment he'd been waiting for a long time. The first fight in weeks in which he wasn't battling some hapless fool, but a foe who could even hold his own a little! The giant smirked, the rushing of his blood, and his rising joy almost enough to blot out the sense of unusual anger he'd felt at seeing Raditz lying on the floor like that. To see a Saiyan reduced so low was not something he ever wanted to see! And so, at first he'd intended to vent his rage on this monster. But it was strong, strong enough to give him a challenge.

Now, he mostly just felt a soaring sense of joy. His muscles ached slightly, the kind of gentle, background pain that told him he was pushing his limits and loving every second of it. His hands tingled from where he had gathered the power to fire his beam, and he fought to stop his lips curling into a smirk as he stepped through the hole he'd blown into the corridor.

 _Come on. Don't be dead. I want this to last a little bit longer. Why don't you show me something I've not seen before? Fight me with everything that you have! Show me that you deserve your place as one of Frieza's elites._

The Asrkoisan lat in the middle of the corridor, a dent on the wall behind it showing where Nappa's attack had flung it hard. There was a pool of what was probably Arkoisna blood around it, and its chitin was cracked and jagged in places.

Even so, he was pleased when it looked up to see him approach.

"You've put up a good fight, but it's over now." Nappa growled, secretly hoping to encourage the alien to struggle a bit more. "Your little scheme dies here with you. After I'm done, I'll kill each and every one of your kind I can find in the ship. You're supposed to be the boss, right? So I don't think they'll be as tough as you are… but maybe if I fight four or five of them at once, they might come close to scratching me."

"Arrogance..." The creature groaned. There was a tearing sound as it raised one of its arms to the wall, claws gouging the metal into handholds to allow it to rise. "You Saiyans are full of it..."

"Really? And I thought you admired us too."

"One can admire and still see flaws. You Saiyans were like us. Predators, killers. But you were never up to our standard. Too emotional… to prone to acting irrationally. Too _individual_."

"Well, I could do the same back at you and list your flaws." Nappa noted. "But I'd much rather end this now."

His brought his palm up, shining with gathered Ki. A bitter sense of disappointment swelled within him, seeing that his opponent had made no move to fight back. "Now die!"

The blast screamed forwards, and detonated with enough power to rock that section of the ship, blowing through several walls and flinging molten metal like rain. Alarms screamed, and lights flashed. The Arkosian ducked under it, and put on a sudden burst of speed to carry it forwards, towards Nappa. Suddenly soaring again, Nappa ploughed forwards with a meaty blow from the right. The insect fielded it, and returned one that cut three red marks into Nappa's side, drawing blood. Nappa countered with a rising kick to the gut, shattering yet more chitin. His left fist came around to batter the insect into a wall again. It hit nothing but empty air. The Arkosian had risen further and faster than he'd thought. For a moment, it hung in the air above his extended arm.

A horrible realisation flashed through Nappa's mind in the moment before those claws lashed out as quickly as they could. Nappa felt a surge of pain, and then howled. For a moment, he couldn't see anything but red, and then realised that the red he was seeing was actually his blood.

Agony pounded through his arm, the world seemed to shake for him, and a cold numbness threatened to swamp him. Through it all, the Arkosian moved, dropping to its feet in front of him. Nappa tried to intercept, but for some reason, only one of his arms was working. He was too slow, and the creature jammed one clawed hand into his gut, twisting it viciously, dragging an agonized cry from the older Saiyan.

"For one thing..." The Arkosian spoke softly, so quietly that only Nappa could hear. "You Saiyans are always too quick to accepted weakness as fact. You never learned that your prey could lie."

It dragged the arm back, now coated liberally in red liquid, and Nappa felt his feet topple, and saw the floor rising up to meet him.

* * *

Nappa was down.

 _Nappa was down!_

Through the state of panic which had overtaken him, Raditz could almost not believe what he had just seen. The fight had been going so well up until that moment, but as soon as Nappa had closed in to deal the final blow, the insect had moved faster than he ever had before! It was only one hit, and it only would have worked once, but…

'' _If you can attack just once with overwhelming power, anything after that point ceases to matter.''_ That was one of Bardock's lessons. Now, he'd seen it proved in action, and he could almost not move for the horror which invaded his frame. A deeply rising sense of wrongness was assailing him, and he knew that this couldn't be true. This couldn't be right. Nappa, a general, and a member of the elite class couldn't fall to such scum. It couldn't be, that sort of thing just didn't happen. Yes, a low class like him could die, but they were expendable, just like he was. Too see Nappa fall, it was like seeing the fall of the Prince himself!

His hands were shaking, the pain this caused was easily overwhelmed by the frozen horror of the moment. Power was flowing around him, gathered by instinct. The pain of his wound diminished into a background noise of pain. Someone was screaming; a long drawn out cry of rage and disbelief.

It seemed that this person was him.

How strange.

Before he knew it, he was moving. Charging, the corridor flashing past, his scream unabated, he felt his power soaring, rising past what he was sure he could do in this state. Even his ribs ceased to annoy him.

The Arkosian looked up at the sound of his approach, a look which was almost impossible to decipher fluttered across its face, but it could have been annoyance. The alien threw a curving wave of Ki at him, but Raditz ducked low, and put on another burst of speed. He slammed a blow into the creature's chest, and maybe it was because Nappa had already weakened it, but he heard the Chitin crack and shatter! A sudden soaring hope filled him, driving him to strike the same spot again and again. Machine-gunning blows into the creature's exposed chest in as short a time as he possibly could. The force of the impact carried them up, and away from Nappa. Blow after blow he rained down, he felt the armour break, and shatter, he felt soft flesh pulp under his blows, saw blood stained his fists.

Then, pain flared through him. The Arkosian had aimed a slash at his neck, but his momentum had turned it into a deep cut which had scratched his collarbone. He spiralled away, the pain breaking focus, and bringing back everything else he'd suppressed. His back caught against the wall of the corridor, and the Arkosian blasted him with a beam of energy. He felt the metal behind him run and melt, his skin began to sear. Blood boiled away from his wounds. He didn't have the energy to resist it, and in that moment, he knew that he was going to die.

Then, another attack came screaming down the corridor, breaking against the Arkosian's body, and sending it flying, tumbling and crashing to the ground. Beaten and weary, Raditz looked to the side. Was it Vegeta? Had the Prince come to save them?

No, but it was something equally miraculous. Nappa was standing. A trickle of blood running from his mouth, his chest a mass of bruised red, and one of his arms ending in a simple stump where forearm should have been. The stump was blackened by the touch of directly applied energy, burning it rather than allowing it to bleed out. It would have been agony, but then, Nappa was not in much of a state to care, Raditz figured. Just seeing him standing was amazing, never mind the fact that he'd mustered the power to go back on the offensive.

The Arkosian looked up, and this time, Raditz was _sure_ that its expression was a scowl of disbelief.

"You?" It said. "You're dead. Have the grace to lay down and rot as you should!"

"That's one thing you don't know about us Saiyans… we don't like to stay dead."

"Evidently, I shall have to try harder."

"Then do it! I'm not falling for a trick like that again. You took me arm, so what? I only ever needed one to deal with the likes of you anyway."

"Why are you fighting so hard?" The Arkosian snarled. "You have nothing left! You have no world or people. What culture can you claim to have saved? Your people are gone! The Saiyans are extinct! There's nothing left for you, so why do you struggle so? The three of you are just ghosts, and eventually you'll fade away. What will remain of the Saiyans then? Stories! Just stories… at least my people still have a chance to live. At least we can still go on! Why are you standing in my way? You who should understand most of all? You who have suffered the same fate that was dealt to us? Why are you trying to stop me when of all the people on this ship, you should be trying to help!"

"Honestly, I don't know." Nappa said, wiping the trickle of blood on his face with his single remaining arm. "What you say, maybe it's right… we don't have a world, and we're the last of our kind. By all rights, we should have just given up. But we're not going to. We're stubborn like that… Saiyans… No matter what you throw at us, we don't stay down." He glanced to Raditz, a look gone in an instant, but one that made the younger Saiyan's heart beat faster. "You think you're anything like us? You're wrong… you gave up. You just gave up, and found a way to run from Frieza by trapping him far away. We three may be the last Saiyans, but we're going to kill him. That'll be the legacy we leave! If we're gonna vanish, we'll die as the ones who killed Frieza!"

Nappa started forwards. Slow at fist, but going faster. Each step ponderous, seeming to shake the ship. His hand was extended, to strike. Power blazed around him in defiance of his wound, proclaiming his strength and fury.

"You're lying or a fool!" The Arkosian screamed. "Power like yours will never be able to overcome that monster! If I can bring you this low, what chance do you have against the one who could have destroyed my entire world? This plan is our only chance, and I won't let you stop me!"

The two warriors met and clashed.

* * *

"Lord Frieza?"

"Hmm? What is it, Zarbon?"

"I was just wondering my lord… why is it that you don't want us to make sure that the rest of the ship is clear of the enemy? The Arkosians were awfully convinced that we wouldn't be able to stop their plan, whatever it is. I understand it took quite a long time to make the ones we captured talk at all."

"Oh, I already know their plan. Or at least, the basics of it. After all, I helped them at every turn."

"My lord? I'm not sure I understand..."

"It's simple. How do you think they managed to sneak drones of that level onto the ship? How do you think hey managed to break into the Saibaman facility? Or how did they manage to jam the computer?" Frieza stifled a laugh behind one delicate hand, "They're so proud of the fact that they have done all this on their own, it would crush them to know the truth."

"But why?"

"I wish to break them, Zarbon. I want to make them into my perfect warriors. I knew at once that I had to find some way to destroy their pride. This little attempt will accomplish that nicely. When we conquered them, they reminded me so much of the Saiyans. You remember how much trouble they were? This time, I decided to do things right. A demonstration of my power, and then later, an example of how truly insignificant they are."

"So, you won't destroy their planet then?"

"They would be useless as soldiers if I couldn't recruit more of them. I told dear Vegeta that Arkos would be destroyed. That was not far from the truth. I require soldiers. but culture doesn't matter. When we are done here, I'll simply bombard their world and take out each of their major cities one by one. I think I might extend it over several days, you know, to bring them to their full despair at the truth of their helplessness. I'm quite looking forward to it. It's been a while since I was able to cut loose."

"And the people we've lost so far, my lord? According to reports, the Arkosians have killed many of our soldiers and workers."

"Do you wish to make a comment, Zarbon? You sound disapproving."

"No, Lord Frieza. Merely trying to get things straight in my mind. You don't care about the losses we took?"

"Not even in the least. What care have I for such paltry things? We can take in more crew on the next world we visit, and as for soldiers, if they died here, then they obviously are not strong enough to fight for me anyway. Sending Vegeta to be the one to kick-start their plan was a nasty touch, I'll admit, but he has had it too easy of late. I wanted to make sure our dear Vegeta was not going soft."

"And at the same time, forcing him to confront a mirror of his own situation. If he'd refused, you would have killed him, yes?"

"Of course. This whole situation is most amusing. The most fun I've had in months. Ever since last year, when we finally showed a bigger expansion rate than Cooler's own worlds. I swear, he's been cold about that for months. I suppose that's another reason I set this whole thing up. Travelling for so long was boring, I wanted to have something interesting to distract me. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not even slightly, Lord Frieza." Zarbon smiled. "It's simply nice to be let in on these things."


	9. Chapter 9

The two Saiyans fought at a frantic speed. His aura blazing around him, Raditz threw everything he had into each exchange of blows. Already, his arms were marred with blood from strikes of the Arkosian's blade, and at least a few of them felt pretty deep. His other wounds were acting up as well, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. Actually, he'd already pushed past what he would term ''exhaustion'' and was rapidly approaching ''Staying alive by sheer willpower alone''. And as Raditz would be the first to admit, his willpower wasn't that good. Each clash sent aches racing through his body, each time he hit a wall, he wondered if he would find the strength to rise again. Each blow traded brought him closer and closer to his limit, to that barrier he would never be able to reach.

Yet, each time he fell, he found it within him to rise again. To fight the pain with bitter determination, to trade just one more blow. It was the hardest fight he'd ever participated in, and he would have been dead ten times over by now, if it weren't for Nappa.

Nappa. Even that name brought an amount of awe to him now. He'd always known the big Saiyan was an elite, but now he saw what that truly meant. Through blinding pain, and splitting agony, the giant traded blow after blow with the Arkosian. The deep wound in his chest stained his armour red, and his lost limb made for a constant hole in his guard. The Arkosian wasn't shy of exploiting that either, and Nappa had taken several more deep cuts to that side of his body. Still, he fought. Landed blow after blow, twisting and striking, and driving the foe back with true Saiyan pride. Each time Raditz felt like he couldn't go on, he would listen to the sound of the battle, and his own wounds would not seem so much.

Alone, each one of the Saiyans would have been overwhelmed by now. Nappa's handicap, and Raditz's weakness ensured that fate if they were not careful; but together, they were fighting still. Trading off to give one another a chance to breath, throwing all their power into the brief clashes with the monster before they were relieved by the other. Each trade of blows was a challenge, each new wound a deadly threat. They blitzed and swirled and danced around the Arkosian, giving it no time to target one above the other. Each aware that this was a fight to the death.

The fight was vicious though, both sides giving as good as they got. The Arkosian managed to lay a deep wound into Raditz's scalp, coating his dark hair in matted red. Nappa took a blow to the gut, that would certainly have been fatal were it a few inches lower. Raditz almost lost his arm in the same manner as the giant. The Arkosian took blow after blow until its natural armour started to truly give way, pulpy flesh and purple blood staining the fists of the Saiyans; still they fought on, locked in a duel that would allow only one side survival. There were no words, no were there time for words. There wasn't even any planning. It was a simple, brutal match of speed and wit and instinct. Training took the form of engrained response, to react to an attack before you were even aware that you had noticed it.

It was the kind of match that in his darkest days, Raditz had ascribed to his father, and never to himself. It was the kind of fight he'd never wanted to have, because secretly, he knew he would die. All his training with Bardock had told him this, he was sure of it down to his very soul. Yet, still he fought. Still he threw his might into his attacks, striking again and again. Dodging wounds, and blows by the breadth of a hair, but remaining alive each time. Even the attacks he couldn't avoid, he mitigated. Dodging just so to turn a fatal cut into a deep wound. He knew he was doing a number on his body, he knew that if he lived, he'd need another stint in the healing tanks.

He didn't care right now. All he could focus on was the exhilaration pounding through him, the battle-lust of a Saiyan pushed to his very limit. It screamed through him like nothing he'd ever felt before, and he knew that to release himself to it would be to die. If he got caught up, he'd never dodge in time, he'd slow down just enough to be cut. That was how he was fighting now. The battle within and the battle without.

The Arkosian caught Nappa with a downward kick, propelling the bald giant through the floor with an angry shout. Quick as a flash, it darted down after him, and Raditz followed as well. He didn't know how many times they'd done this, how many floors they've gone down or up, or around. Sometimes, they would emerge in halls full of soldiers, but they were never strong enough to turn the tide of the battle. Few of them even wanted to try. They'd take one look at two Saiyans going all out against such a powerful Arkosian, and decide that they wanted none of that. Raditz would have called them cowards, but he could hardly blame them. After all, he'd feel the same way if he wasn't already up to his neck in it.

They entered this time into a much bigger room. ''Cavernous'' would be the word that sprang to mind. It was giant, and there were rows of silent machines build into the walls, each one looking like a mechanical arm. By the arms, there were a collection of large pads of metal, spreading out from the central corridor that connected it to the rest of the ship.

Some of the pads were full, sphere-like shapes held tightly by the metal limbs. That was enough to confirm for Raditz that this was the landing bay. For a split second, he marvelled at how far they had come. After all, the landing bay was on the very bottom of the ship! They had to have broken through a lot of corridors to get here…

Then, Nappa gave a cry of pain, and Raditz was spurred back to the fight. He gathered power in the palms of his hands, and unleashed a Ki storm to drive the alien away from Nappa. The Arkosian was getting weaker too, at the start of the fight, it could easily have withered that attack. Now, it choose to dodge. Disengaging and hopping out of range. Nappa staggered back, and Raditz saw a wound across his face, marking him from the temple to the top of the nose. Anger flared in him, giving him that extra boost of power. By now, he was desperately reaching for anything he could get. He'd past running on dry a while ago, and now he honestly didn't even know how he was still standing, much less fighting.

He swooped in, striking with speed towards the alien, forcing the Arkosian to fend him off with a storm of exchanged blows. Raditz snarled as he felt skin tear, a deep gash cut into his arm, but he flipped, and landed a kick to the creature's side, drawing a hiss of pain. He came up again, hands full of power ,and fired a blast of Ki which the Arkosian side-stepped. A nearby pot was reduced to molten metal, and the alien stepped in smartly. Two arms struck for his chest, forcing him to dart backwards, just in time to avoid the other two, which had been trying to encircle him.

He was growing tired, reaching his limits. His movements were slowing, and the Arkosian knew it. It stepped forward again, launching a series of scything strikes which he defended against as best he could. Pain ripped through him as half a dozen more wounds were added to his arms. Then, the Arkosian's leg shot out, and he tripped. For a moment, he seemed to float and then he crashed to the ground. A scythe of energy slammed into his gut, drawing a pained scream and igniting his other wounds in agony.

"Good." The Arkosian growled. "Now this time, _stay down._ "

He wondered why it wasn't going to finish him, but that was answered when Nappa surged forward from behind it, trying to strike with surprise. A blast of energy ripped through the space above him, but the alien had flipped into the air, and returned with a series of scythes of its own. Nappa ducked and dodged between them, those he couldn't avoid, he tanked. One of them came at his face, but he punched it. Raditz wasn't even kidding, he just swatted that energy out of the air!

 _That_ was an elite at war. That power, that majesty. It was the sort of thing he could never imagine for himself. The elite were a class unto themselves. Raditz should have known he could never compete.

Speaking of which, he realised that his wounds had caught up to him at last. Every attempt at movement ended in agony. He was stuck. He didn't even have the ability to feel regret, or frustration, he'd given all he could. Now, it was down to Nappa.

 _Come on, General Nappa. Don't let that alien scum pull one over on the Saiyan race._

The Arkosian was continuing to throw bombarding waves of energy; cutting into the floor and the machinery around them. Creating hissing sparks, and leaping flames. Catching the offline pods, and destroying them with metal shrieks and howls. The only thing that it wasn't hitting was Nappa himself. The Saiyan was moving fast enough to keep ahead of them, turning and swerving. He threw a glance Raditz's way, and seemed to realise that the younger Saiyan wouldn't be getting up again.

It was down to him now.

The giant elite squared his shoulders, summoned his willpower, and threw himself into the fight. A burst of speed and a sharp turn, and he was in the Arkosian's face. The two clashed, blade against fist. The Arkosian made a quick cut to the neck, but Nappa had fought it long enough to know its combat style now. He caught the blade in his hands, and closed his fingers, mangling the claws with a jet of purple blood. The creature howled, and tried to strike desperately with the other three limbs. Nappa, with only one arm, was forced to release his hold, dashing backwards to make some space. His single hand filled with light. The blast hurled the Arkosian backwards, wreathed in energy for a moment; but it blocked as best it could, and refused to go down.

Nappa frowned, but the Arkosian went on the attack next. One of its three remaining functional arms filled with power, and a scything blast tore through the hanger door into the interior of the ship. Nappa dodged to the right, and pinged a rapid blast past its defences, scarring a deep wound into its shoulder. The Arkosian launched itself forwards, and Nappa met its attack.

They fought. By now, they were both used to the other. Used to attack and counter-attack, and feigned weakness and real weakness. It was as though they knew each other, so great was their focus on the mixing of their combat styles. As though they had been friends for years so well did each know the other's movements. It only made things more bitter, only made things all the fiercer. The Arkosian had risen to the challenge of fighting a Saiyan, and Nappa was hard-pressed to do anything but admit that he was impressed. He'd never thought that he would be pushed this far, to lose an arm… No one had managed that.

But then, the Arkosian's words were troubling him, and he wondered if he wasn't the fool for having failed to understand. After all, if the situation was reversed, and it was Planet Vegeta on the line, could he really say that he would fight with anything less than the pure stubborn rage that the Arkosian was displaying? If there was still a chance to save his world, no matter how slight, he knew he'd throw everything he had into it, be ready and willing to die in the attempt. Even for a far-flung hope.

He was seeing himself mirrored in the alien warrior. Something that seemed almost a blasphemy to the elite Saiyan. After all, aliens were creatures to be conquered and enslaved, to see good traits in one was dangerously un-Saiyan. Yet, through the brutal battle they had thus far shared, Nappa was starting to do just that. The alien was fighting as a Saiyan would have fought, on the eve of the destruction of Planet Vegeta. It was fighting for the life and pride of its entire race. None of it would have meant anything if the creature was weak, or pathetic. But it was strong. Strong enough to give him a run for his money. Strong enough to make him regard it as powerful.

Strong enough to be compared to a Saiyan.

Ultimately, Nappa didn't doubt that he was doing the right thing. His loyalty to the Prince went far beyond anything he could ever feel to a pathetic and insignificant alien species. However, this was the first time he'd felt such joy in fighting anything but a fellow Saiyan, and it was tinged with bitterness as he reflected on what the end result of his victory would mean.

After all, when Frieza won, Arkos was surely doomed. If Arkos was doomed, then this warrior's battle was in vain. Nappa would never be able to fight such a determined and driven foe again. The loss was biting.

It was at this point, distracted by his own thoughts, Nappa was unable to parry a single blow, which cut into his chest, driving itself deep. Deeper even than the first attack. Nappa felt surprisingly little pain. Then, a cold weakness which spread from the wound across his entire body. He gazed in shock and surprise at the face of the creature.

Then, he tumbled to the ground. This time, he wouldn't be getting up.

 _Shit, shit, shit. Nappa's down again, and this time he's hurt worse than before. Damn it, man, do you really need me to hold your hand that much? How come both times I'm unable to help, you go and take the hit?_

Raditz was vaguely aware that if Nappa was aware of the thoughts he was currently having, the elite would probably kill him dead on the spot. At that particular moment, however, he couldn't find it in him to care. The dull calmness of his wounded state had been broken by panic and terror at seeing Nappa's fall. The Arkosian was in him up to the elbow, and he was damn sure that wasn't a good sign for future survival! When Nappa went limb, and clattered to the ground, that was probably an even worse sign, wasn't it?

Raditz tried to move. He tried to rise up and fight on, he really did. But he'd hit his limit. The same limit that Nappa had warned him about before. The very extent of what he could do, beyond which he could not go. No matter how much he raged at his failing form. No matter the curses he flung at himself. No matter the fury at seeing a man he had come to respect fallen in such a way.

The best he could do was shakily point a hand. Consideration of firing a Ki blast was curtailed when he realised it would only end in his own death as well. Desperately, he searched his mind. Reaching for anything that might allow him to salvage the situation, but he already knew that there was nothing. He was too weak to stand, he couldn't fight. Nappa might be dead already, but if he wasn't, he'd be in another minute, so if Raditz wanted to do anything ,it had to be now.

But what? What could he do? He was too weak! Too tired! Too exhausted! If he wanted to have any chance at all, he'd have to be ten times as strong as he was now!

Ten times…

Shit. Was it really so bad that he was considering _that_?

Did he have the power? Just barely. Did he have the room? Not in the ship, but the landing bay was at the very bottom of it. If he took them out in the right direction, they'd be in space. Was he really considering this? It seemed the height of insanity. He knew that even if he pulled it off, he'd only strain his body all the harder. He might just kill himself pulling it off.

But if he didn't, he'd die for sure. And Nappa would die too, and after what the giant Saiyan had done, and what he had suffered, that seemed just too much. The thought steeled him, and Raditz reached for what little dregs of his power remained. He'd have to do this properly. He only had once chance. One last chance to turn this around.

 _I can't believe I'm about to do this. I can't believe that I'm going to do something so stupid. Something so reckless, so ill-thought out…_

 _Actually, that sounds exactly like me…_

No more time to think. No more time to ponder. Raditz lined up the shot, and poured the last of his Ki through his body, into his finger, and discharged it in a single radiant burst. The Arkosian flinched away, but the attack wasn't aimed at it. Instead, it came to a dead stop hovering near the roof of the hanger.

He felt it then. The radiant light of a full moon, discharged by the false moon orb. Something deep and primal welling up in his body. Agony seared through him, worse now that his body was in the grip of the transformation. But the pain helped. It actually helped to spur on the monster within; the beast now racing to the surface with joyful howls and savage roars.

The Oozaru…

Body writhing with fresh muscles, Raditz forced himself to his feet. His heart was pounding, and he was growing. Bigger. Taller, wider.

 _Have to focus… can't let the monster overwhelm me… have to think…_

It was hard. The pain made keeping his mind difficult, it enraged the beast Made it want to rampage, made it want to kill. He was still growing, in mere moments, he'd be too tall for the landing bay. He didn't intend to still be in it by then.

With a roar that was neither entirely human, nor totally animal, Raditz barrelled towards the Arkosian. The alien insect sent a dozen deep-cutting crescents of power at him, but he swatted them aside like they were nothing. New power was filling his body, nursing his wounds, making him strong again. Ten times as strong as he had been before.

His tackle caught the Arkosian square on, but he didn't stop. Carrying the struggling body, he struck the far wall of the ship, and smashed through it. Deep space opened up, winking around them and beginning to pull at them both. Raditz pitched them into it, catching as much air as he could in his aura as they tumbled. He lost the Arkosian in the confusion of those first few seconds. Transitioning to space was confusing enough, never mind the final stages of the transformation. As he finally attained his true, massive height. As dark hair sprouted across his body, as his face deformed, and grew a snout, massive teeth and a long mane of hair trailing across his back.

Oozaru. The Great Ape. True form of the Saiyan race. The secret to their power. An animalstic transformation which afford them ten times the strength of their base form. He'd really pulled out all the stops for this one.

The light of the false moon still shone from the broken doors of the hanger; only slightly marred by the shimmering automatic shield which had cut into existence mere seconds after the breach. Raditz felt the anger building inside him; always hard to control as an Oozaru, this time it was worse. The beast knew it had been hurt; knew that it had been wounded gravely.

It wanted repayment. Revenge. Blood for blood.

A sentiment to which Raditz was in full agreement.

He pointed the monster at the alien, the Arkosian had now caught itself, and was flying enclosed in its own power. If Raditz had had the strength of will, if he'd had the energy, if he hadn't just fought such a gruelling battle, he could have controlled the beast. Mastered it, and rode it. As it was, he didn't have the power to do that. Instead, he singled out the Arkosian, and barked one clear thought to his primal self.

 _Prey._

Then, he felt himself starting to fade. The last thing he heard as his logical half was the roar of the primal fury of the Saiyan race.

The Oozaru unleashed.


	10. Chapter 10

Oozaru. That was the name of the monster that had brought low the Tuffles in a feat that had quickly spread throughout the universe for its brutal simplicity. The destruction of an entire race was not exactly an uncommon thing, but usually one as advanced as the Tuffles would have been a task of several days, not a single night. Everyone knew the old stories of how they had clashed with the Saiyans. How they had pitted their high technology against the Saiyan might. How they had even made gains, pushing their foes back in a grinding but inevitable victoty.

Then, the night came. The rare full moon which summoned forth the bestial forms of the Saiyan. The next day, there were no more Tuffles. Just burning cities and twisted bodies. He'd never thought to see it up close; he'd never imagined what it would be like to stand in the presence of one of the giants, one of the creatures that almost seemed to stand in for a god of war. The monstrous apes against whom no defence was a match, who waded through fire and worse, and never knew defeat.

He was feeling it now. The Arkosian would-be King floated in the void of space as the Oozaru let loose another primal howl, the sound seeming to worm its way past his armoured skin, and attack his insides with knives of fear. It was massive; a towering shape that threw the ship into its shadow. Though, perhaps that was simply for the fact that it currently wanted to tear his face off. Clothed in the broken armour of the Saiyan who had become it, there was no light of reason in its eyes. There was only anger and fury.

He was going to die.

The Oozaru charged, one giant hand clashing down to crush him like the bug he appeared to be, but the Arkosian leader pulled himself together and jolted to the side, barely avoiding that fate. Each move brought new pain lashing across his nerves. Shattered chitin, humiliated arm, and numerous other injuries each demanding treatment. He ignored them and pushed on, as he had done before. As any Arkosian could be expected to do; but the rock-hard faith in his own mission was wavering now in the face of the monster. Panic was swelling in his alien breast, and he had to force himself to remain calm. It was like facing down the very stuff of nightmares, a real-life monster coming just for him. What could he do but fall at its hands?

Still, he fought on. Some deep instinct driving him to defy defeat even now, bursting into a dash to evade a mighty strike, and then rising like a star, three hands filled with power as he blasted energy down at the beast. The Oozaru howled, but thick fur absorbed most of the punch, and the creature caught him with a wild backhand. He spun, frenzied pain ripping at his body. Managing to exert some control over his flight at the last second; a searing beam lashed out across the path of his fall, and he realised with cold logic that it would have killed him were he even a second slower.

The Arkosian was no stranger to the concept of death. He had faced it before, on Arkos during the war against Frieza. Even now, thoughts of that war – war? More like battle! A single day of fighting to end a history of glory! - thoughts of the war made him burn with fury. It gave him some extra speed and strength, letting him stay ahead of the beast as it advanced, swatting at him with its giant arms. The monkey-like face pulled into a snarl. He blasted a beam towards its eye, but it intercepted with one hand, then forced him to duck back as it swept a blast of its own towards his location.

Damn it, he was going to lose like this! The bald one had been tough enough… Nappa, he'd called himself, right? That had been a close fight, closer than the Arkosian would ever admit to anyone else. In the end, he'd seen his chance and moved in for the kill, but if Nappa hadn't slowed, the insectoid wasn't sure that he would have won in the end. Now, he was facing one of the legendary beasts of nightmare, on of the creatures he'd always been taught were unmatchable.

He had to think! He had to find some way out of this, that was why he had been chosen for the suicide mission, that was why he had been the one to go. Because he was trusted to adapt as new things happened that hadn't been planned for. The fate of his world rested on him, they expected him to come up with some brilliant way to turn this around.

All he felt was terror. Terror like he'd never felt before. Terror that no single foe had ever inspired. This monster wasn't mortal, wasn't flesh and blood. It was rage itself, bathed in the cool light of the moon. What could he do against such a thing? What could he possibly achieve except to die in a pointless duel in distant space that would one would ever seen again? His body crushed and mangled, his spirit shamed with the defeat. His cause lost, his world afire.

Everything was lost to him if he didn't act now.

He couldn't allow hesitation! He had to fight!

The Arkosian sprang forwards, rising higher as he summoned yet more Ki reserves, forcing past the pain and the fear and the desperation. He was a Hive-Prince, a would-be King who had given up his throne. The best of his world, the most elite. Even if he had to die here, he wouldn't do it trembling like some half-grown child. He would stand and fight, and battle to take his foe even if that was impossible, even if he had to die pointlessly, it would never be helplessly as well!

"For Arkos!" The beams lanced from his hands, playing across the great ape's form. Probing and testing for weakness, hoping to do damage, to open wounds and to draw blood. There was nothing. Attacks that would have killed that Saiyan outright failed to even get past the thick fur that covered the beast. His strongest and most powerful techniques could not even force it to wince. It bathed in his power, coming through without harm. Blasting at him with a screaming energy wave fired from the mouth. He dodged and wheeled, forcing a protesting body to move past its limits.

 _If energy won't do the trick, then maybe…_

He dove in, picking up speed, and cupping two of his hands to form a hammer-like shape, which he brought crashing down against the creature's furred body. Up close, the fur felt more like metal, not giving an inch even in spite of his attack. He snarled and kicked away, but the ape clipped him, and an explosion of pain told him that he was probably bleeding. Again.

Pain washed through his body, threatening to dull his mind. Threatening to get him killed. The next two attacks, he only dodged barely. He felt himself flowing; the loss of blood finally starting to tell.

Damn it, he couldn't die here! Not after everything that had happened, not after all that he had sacrificed.

He thought of Arkos. The great spire-cities, raising like the biggest trees into the sky. Their armoured exteriors glittering as though they had captured the light of the stars themselves. The howling wind beating against them, but denied by their strength. Each one, a reflection of the people who had built them. Strong, proud and defiant.

At least, before Frieza had come. Before the dark times had set in. Before they stopped being warriors, and started to be slaves. The shame of it! Their ancestors surely had to be disgusted at their actions; at how far they had fallen. But submission was better than destruction. Submission offered a chance to strike back in the future, it offered the possibility of freedom. The loss of honour was striking and terrible, but honour and pride could be reclaimed. Life could not. Survival could not.

Frieza had taught them them much since those days. He had taught them of slavery, of shame, and of a people perverted into obedient soldiers. He knew of the fate that would await his species should he fail. Destruction, and then slavery of the survivors just as with the Saiyans. In a real way, he wasn't just fighting an enemy, he was fighting what his people might become.

Why? Why couldn't the Saiyans see the truth? Their species was gone! They had no chance for survival. Now or in the future, they would die out. Why wouldn't they sacrifice themselves to deal a striking blow against the monster who had decided their fate? It was no less than he was willing to do himself! The Saiyans should have understood! The Saiyans should have been his greatest ally…

'' _If we're going to die, we'll do it as the ones who killed Frieza!''_

Foolishness! Didn't they see? Even this monster he now duelled was paltry compared to that beast. Was this really what they had become? Where the Arkosians had lost their pride, had the Saiyans gone the opposite way? Sacrificing until that pride was all that they had?

'' _You're just giving up. You've decided there's no way you can beat him, so you're getting him out of the way instead!''_

No. It wasn't surrender to see that victory was impossible. A warrior who fought on in the face of oblivion was pointless. Battle was for glory, and to preserve the hive and clan. If it would serve none of those purposes, why would you want to fight?

 _For pride, of course, for warrior's pride._

That voice was not that of a Saiyan. It was his own, echoing to him from long ago. From before the chains and the slavery. The Arkosians had once been a warrior race, like the Saiyans. Pride had been important then, it had been everything.

 _Have we really fallen so far, that we've lost something as vital as that? The Saiyans can't be right, can they? Of course not, all they have is words. They'll never be strong enough on their own! This way is the right way.. the only way._

The Oozaru unleashed a roar, and struck forwards. He rolled, avoiding it by the narrowest of margins. Taking advantage, he dove upwards, hoping to crack a blow against the monster's sensitive snout, but the long tail swept out of nowhere, bashing into him with the strength of a falling building. A cry of pain tore free from his battered throat. He was hurled back into the void, the ship retreating; his goal getting further and further away.

In the end, he was helpless.

Just like with Frieza, just like with before. This was an enemy who was beyond his power. No matter what he did, he would die in the end. Why not just submit? Why not just make it fast and surrender…?

The same words. Those were the same words that he had heard once before. During the battle, during their greatest failure.

'' _My Queen, we cannot win this battle. Already, more than thirteen hives have been destroyed, surely ours will be next, as one of the biggest surviving targets. The enemy has already shown that they cannot be stopped. Why not surrender and spare ourselves? Our pride for our survival, the trade does not seem so bad...''_

It had been a mistake. Even as his mother had given the order, he'd known it was a mistake. Pride was more than just a word, losing it had cost them and changed them. Made them into slaves. Worse than this, slaves who had willingly taken to the chains. Should they have fought to the death instead? He had no real answer, but he did know that his people had been so much lesser since that day.

This was their chance. Perhaps their only chance, their way to regain what they had cast aside. To become warriors again, to have purpose rather than empty existence. This was the way forward, his people were depending on his success, surrendering wasn't an option. He would accept death or victory, and nothing else.

Knowing that the former was far more likely than the latter, he attacked. Casting a wide net of energy which broke against the creature. The Oocaru slapped at him, and he dodged. A second blow came at him from the side, forcing another evasion. Then, he lashed a wave of power at the monster's eye. It blinked, but the attack landed and the creature howled in pain. He drove forwards, sending another half-dozen waves of energy into its upper body, but most were absorbed with little harm. Blinking furiously, it counter-attacked, entering a frenzied state of all-out attack. He dodged blow after blow, using his smaller size as the only advantage that he had. Then, the tail swept out again, trying to entrap his legs and slow him down. He jumped, watching it slide past below him.

Then two things hit him at once.

The first was a memory.

The second was a fist.

The fist belonged to the enraged ape, crushing down against his body was bone-pulping force. He felt armour splinter; felt a searing pain as what felt like several organs were ruptured. Felt his very life begin to ebb away.

But none of that mattered compared to the memory. As he had said, the Arkoaisns had always admired the Saiyans. Admired their history and their lore. This was how he knew of the Oozaru form in which he was being attacked, now, he recalled that legend in detail.

'' _A Saiyan standing under the full moon in possession of their tail undergoes a terrifying transformation. They become a giant ape, an Oozaru. A bringer of destruction and ruin. Woe to any foe who faces such a monster, for they do not stop for pain or weariness. They do not rest until the moon fades, or until there is nothing left to kill.''_

Until the moon fades. That was probably impossible right now. The fight had carried them further from the ship, and the false moon orb was protected by shield, nestled inside the hanger. The other part, though…

 _A Saiyan has to have a tail to transform! But this one is already changed, will removing the tail do anything at all?_

Honestly, he didn't know. But it was the best shot he had, and so, he would give it his all. For Arkos, and for what had been taken from them.

His body was floating. Still weak from the pounding he'd taken. He forced life back into his limbs, and flipped up right. The Oozaru, who had been watching to decide of its prey was still alive gave an angry growl. An energy beam began to charge in its maw, and he forced himself to action. Dashing forwards to avoid the detonation, shockwaves of which rolled over him and threatened to tip his balance. Closer to the creature he came, closer to the giant mass of fur and muscle. It ploughed one fist through space, forcing him to nimbly dodge – or at least, he hoped it was nimble. In truth, he was at the end of his reserves, and didn't have much left to use. At any rate, he avoided the hit. A follow up punch proved harder to dodge, and he was forced to try and block. Which, as you might expect when facing a giant monster whose fist alone is bigger than your entire body, is a somewhat fruitless endeavour. He took the hit as best he could, and as his wounds screamed, pushed forwards again.

The Oozaru next attacked with a wave of Ki from the mouth. Like some legendary monster spitting fire, the energy crackled and twisted as it came at him. He avoided, but the detonation was an area of effect, and he felt the energy slam into his back. He cried out, it felt like his legs were on fire! And they very well might have been, but he didn't have time to check. Again, he threw himself forwards. Desperation fuelling him. This creature used its tail as a weapon, he just had to bait it into doing so again!

Just one more time, just once more.

Please.

The Oozaru curled a massive fist around him, he felt the fingers close and lock about his body. He didn't have the power to stop it. Titanic muscles crawled beneath thickly furred skin, and the pressure started to build. Already in pain, he could only endure. Waiting for death and for release; but even as the pain mounted, and even as his body started to fail, desperation did not leave him, and he still waited for his chance. Even as it seemed more and more likely that it would never come.

Then, he had it. A single movement, probably not even conscious on the part of the ape. The tail flicked in annoyance at the resistance of its prey. Just for a moment, it was clear of the body.

He attacked. Throwing absolutely everything he had into one final blast of power. Ki screamed around his body, howling with the fury of his warrior race. Surging and building, the explosion burned the ape, and it howled, and released its grasp.

Then, he was moving. Fast. Faster than he'd ever gone before. He knew he was losing power already. This was his last opportunity. The tail was ahead of him, the Oozaru bearing down on him. Everything he was and everything he had done came down to this.

Kill or be killed.

He reached out, and fired the last dregs of his power. The energy beam caught the tail, and it was severed in a spray of blood. The Oozaru howled in agony, the sound so loud that it was painful. Then there was silence, quickly followed by darkness.

When he came to, he realised that the pain of his wounds had knocked him out. By the time he was aware again, there was no Oozaru. Just a floating Saiyan with long dark hair, wearing a by now spectacularly battered suit of armour. Alive still, despite the odds.

The Arkosian groaned. Every fibre of his being was in pain, he knew that to fall asleep again would mean that he would never wake again. He raised one hand to kill the Saiyan.

Then, he sighed.

"You can come out." The Arkosian said. "I know that you're here now."

"Is that so?" Said a new voice. A humanoid figure floating towards him from cover. The Arkosian turned, but really, it didn't matter who it was.

The figure was shorter than the other two, but clad in similar armour. He had spiky, up-swept hair, of a dark hue. If the Arkosian had any doubt as to his identify, the sight of the curled tail wrapped around his waist quickly killed them.

"Prince Vegeta." The Arkosian said. "Well met, I suppose. Are you here to kill me now?"

"Can you give me a reason why I shouldn't?" The Saiyan countered. "The damage you did to Nappa is going to set my plans back you know. That has to be paid for."

"You don't care for this one?"

"Not one bit. He's low class scum. But I suppose he's still a Saiyan. If anyone is going to kill him, it should be me."

"Hah. I suppose that's Saiyan loyalty."

"Are you not going to try and fight me?" Vegeta asked. "You fought against the others. Am I simply too much for you to take in?"

"Don't flatter yourself. If we met when I was in a better state, I would be quick to dissemble that pride of yours, prince. However, as it is, I'm spent. There's no point in fighting further. I don't even have the strength to throw a punch. Fighting two of Frieza's shock troops has left me understandably exhausted."

"Hmmp." Vegeta snorted. As though fighting two Saiyans and merely being exhausted was some great sign of weakness. "At any rate, I'm here to put a stop to your plans now. You don't have much of a chance. I'm fairly sure you're already dying."

"The wounds your fellows inflicted are telling, yes. But why, Vegeta? Grant me that, at least! We Arkosians looked up to you Saiyans, why is it that you choose to oppose us in this? Together, we could have done it! We could have banished Frieza. Instead, you've saved him. Why? Tell me that, Prince of the Saiyans, why have you doomed my people?!"

"Why? I'm sure the others could give you plenty of reasons. They could bring up pride. They could tell you that it comes down to a matter of honour. I know that Nappa would say that it was our duty to stop you, since revenge belongs solely to the Saiyans. We don't need help from a pathetic race like your own. However, that is not my answer."

"And what is? What is your answer?"

"Simply put?" Vegeta smirked coldly. "You were too weak. I stopped you because I could. Because you weren't strong enough. A race so weak that it cannot succeed on its own deserves to be wiped out. As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing the universe a favour by letting Arkos burn."

"You bastard! I'll kill you for that!" He found power and strength he didn't know he had, righteous fury lending yet more determination. He threw himself forwards, one of his bladed hands cutting for the prince's throat.

Vegeta caught it. Easily. Quickly. The other hand was pointing at his face. Filling with power.

"Goodbye, Arkosian. When Frieza falls, it will be at my hands and no others."

 _Arkos, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to save-_

There was a blast of light.

And then there was nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

"The last of the Arkosians has been dealt with, Lord Frieza."

"So it would seem, Zarbon. My little diversion is over, but I can't say I didn't derive enjoyment from it while it lasted. Do you have anything of interest to report?"

"Only this, my lord. It seems that the leader of their rebellion was hunted down by the Saiyans. What loyal lapdogs they prove to be."

Frieza laughed, a cruel and mocking sound that seemed to fill the compartment of his quarters. Zarbon stood patiently, one who was well used to things of this nature.

"Yes." The tyrant said, his tone still betraying great amusement. "How loyal they are. I'm surprised that Vegeta didn't take the chance to try and betray me there and then, but this way is much better. I'd hate for him to die so soon."

"You're so sure that he will betray you? I believe Vegeta has so far shown nothing but loyalty, my lord. And he did stop the Arkosians from detonating the ship. It would have been much easier to simply take a pod and go if he truly wanted you gone."

"Gone, but not dead. That's not enough for a Saiyan. They're a savage lot, Zarbon. Vegeta wants to kill me himself, I have absolutely no doubt about it. I can see it in his eyes when he looks to me at times. He thinks I don't, and I just don't have the heart to spoil his little act. Whether he's loyal for now or not, eventually he'll go against me."

"Then, shall I have him killed? With both his companions busy recovering, now would be a good time to do so. We could even arrange things so that it seemed he was killed by the Arkosians, if you didn't wish to be too obvious."

"Zarbon, you really are a fine servant, you know? To go from praising someone's loyalty to helping arrange their death in such a short time… I choose you well."

"I live to serve, my lord. Do you wish Vegeta to die?"

"Perhaps one day, but not yet. I want to see how far he will go. Little Vegeta, the last prince his kind will ever have, sworn to defeat the evil tyrant who destroyed his race. The irony is palpable, Zarbon. And besides that, while he remains loyal, he is a useful tool for us. Better to keep him that way for as long as possible before we're forced to kill the last Saiyans."

"I see, my lord." Zarbon said, though his tone indicated that he didn't. "So you want him to live?"

"For now, Zarbon, for now. Surely he deserves that much for hunting down the Arkosian? Thanks to him, I will not have a source of such mighty warriors. Well, after their re-education, that is. Once I have such soldiers again, well, I will have little use for the Saiyans, won't I?"

"Ah, Lord Frieza. It's another game, then? You have Vegeta secure the means of his own replacement?"

"More than just that. Vegeta has been a most amusing piece so far. He thinks I don't know he's plotting against me, but I encourage it with barbs and mockery. Anything to make him angry, to make him step out of line. It's a contest, you see. Whether he can keep his temper, whether he can keep his cool. He can't run, and we all know that he can't win. That Saiyan temper of his boils just below the surface. I want the last Saiyans to die because of it. I want their own flaws to doom them."

"What of the other two, lord? Nappa and the young one. I am given to understand both of them were hurt badly in the fight against the Arkosians."

"Those two don't matter. They're not even pieces. If they die on a mission, so be it. If they survive long enough, well, I'll simply kill them myself when the time is right."

* * *

The green liquid of the regeneration fluid swirled and eddied around Raditz's sleeping form. Stained dark in places by bleeding wounds, and eddied by the motions of his body and the pumps which steadily injected yet more of it into the healing tank as it was needed. Beside the tank, there was a read out, showing the damage done to him and the progress towards recovery.

The read-out was currently displaying a long list of ailments. Broken bones, damaged organs, the loss of his tail… so much damage had been done to the kid that even with the healing tanks, he was looking at months of recovery. Nappa's own body ached in sympathy; the stump of his arm was particularly bothersome. Wrapped in a cloth bandage, soaked in the same type of healing formula that now surrounded Raditz. It pained him in a way that was beyond mere damage done. For a fighter like him, it was something that he could not escape. His balance was off, his weight was wrong. Many techniques now were harder to do, if possible at all. That was all before getting into the pain of it, combined with his other wounds…

Really though, the worst part was how he felt incomplete. For so long, Nappa had been untouchable, a Saiyan elite, far above the power of any but his own kind. The claws of the Arkosian had reminded him that the Saiyans were not the only warrior race in the universe. He'd gotten sloppy and slow, it wouldn't happen again.

Vegeta was standing with him in the medical bay. They'd cleared it out, even the doctors rushing to safety at the sight of two of them. With his remaining hand, Nappa had even waved nastily towards one particular doctor wearing a sling.

Now, the two of them were alone, gazing through the amber-like fluid at the sleeping form of the Saiyan who had come to them, and who had fought so hard to earn a place. Nappa glanced at Vegeat, feeling nervous tension cording his muscles. As ever, the Prince was hard to read. Silence became drawn out, until Nappa felt like he had to say something to fill it.

"He fought well, Vegeta."

"He lost his tail." The Prince scowled. "He's even less of a Saiyan now. Why should I allow such a disgrace to our world to live?"

"That's not fair, Vegeta! The Arkosian was very powerful. Even I lost to him, blaming Raditz for losing a tail against that sort of foe is totally out of line!"

"You say I'm out of line?"

Nappa felt a flash of honest fear as Vegeta turned to regard him; the cold realisation sweeping across him that Vegeta could easily end him as he was now, without even breaking a sweat. Crippled and tired and injured, he could put up no fight at all. Vegeta knew it too, and Nappa could see his cold gaze moving across his body. See the disapproval that Nappa had managed to get hurt like he had.

 _Prince Vegeta, when did you start to forget what it meant to be a Saiyan?_ The thought was unbidden, but he knew that it was right. Vegeta had become more and more distant, and only now did Nappa realise that he had let it happen. That he who should have anchored the young prince had become caught up in the pursuit of revenge. He'd been happy to be a tool, and forgot totally about what it was like to be a warrior. Only the arrival of Raditz had woken him up to it. Reminded him of the old ways, of the homeworld.

The thought emboldened him, making him speak again.

"Prine Vegeta, the power he displaying during the fight was far above what should be his maximum level. You know that a tail can regrow in time… do you really want to waste one of the few Saiyans we have left?"

"It can take years or even decades for a tail to regrow. In that time, he would be helpless. A burden, a weakness."

"But he's still a Saiyan, Vegeta! He's still one of us, and he has earned his place today! Are you really going to kill him after everything that he's done?"

"Perhaps. Just being a Saiyan isn't enough. He has to be strong, Nappa. Strong enough to do what you know must be done when the time is right."

"He can be, Vegeta. He will be. Look how strong he was during the battle. When he recovers, he'll be stronger than that by a large margin! I did some research on what little we have left, and do you know who his father was? Bardock. You know, that low-class warrior who's record of conquest was unmatched? The one who had victories rivalling even the elites? I'm telling you, this kid has the same potential. If Bardock were alive, you'd let him join us. You'd demand that he did."

"This fool isn't his father. He's young and brash, and all I have for evidence that he will one day be as strong as him is your word, Nappa."

"Vegeta, you know better than that. Before I served your father directly, I worked in the royal army as a general of troops. Before that, I was lower ranked, directly in charge of training those deemed to have potential. Most of the ones I worked with were elites, and before the fight, I would have pegged Raditz as far less than them. But he showed determination to keep going no matter how badly injured he was, and given his bloodline… he'll be strong one day. I swear it."

"Maybe he will." Vegeta allowed slowly. "But will it be fast enough? He's lost his tail, Nappa. The Oozaru transformation is beyond him. A Saiyan without a tail is absolutely worthless, what could he do in his base state ever to rival that power he lost?"

"He's still a Saiyan. He still deserves a chance. Vegeta, _please._ "

Vegeta looked at him again, this time, his gaze was almost unreadable. "It's not like you to beg, Nappa."

"I'm not begging, but I am asking. Vegeta, I have served you and your father for a long time. I've never asked for anything before, but I would ask you for this. Let him join us, and I promise he'll prove to you that he's stronger than you think."

Silence descended one more. Vegeta looked at the healing pod, deep in contemplation for another few seconds.

"You're right, Nappa. You've never asked for anything before, and you've served us well. It's easy to forget that I am still a prince…I suppose something like this isn't too much. Just this once, I'll let him live. But he's your problem now, understand? If he becomes a weakness, or slows us down, you'll pay for it as well as he."

"I understand. You won't regret this, Vegeta."

"I think I already do. Nevertheless, I have made my choice. Ensure that when he is healed, he is informed of his new duties."

Vegeta turned, and swept out of the room, leaving Nappa alone, gazing at the stricken warrior in the pod. He released the breath he hadn't known that he had been holding. Raditz's eyes were pressed closed behind the glass, sleeping deeply.

"You don't know how close that was." Nappa said softly. "Vegeta was ready to kill you… and maybe me, if you do turn out to be weak. Don't let me down here. Raditz, I'm counting on you. But I don't think you're weak. You're going to be strong one day. I'll see to that."

Nappa laughed suddenly, and then gazed into the depthes of the pod.

"Considering the training I intend to put you through, maybe you'll wish in the end that I had let Vegeta kill you after all. Too late for that. Welcome to the Saiyan Elite, Raditz. Welcome to the end of the line."


End file.
